Campaign Action
A popular fundraising site faces scrutiny over warranting a fundraiser for killer cop supporters who seek to recoup lost wages following the cop’s termination. Critics of the fundraiser indicate the fundraiser violates the site’s policy but it also sends a fatal message: The perpetrator of a crime deserves more support than the victim.
The Daniel Pantaleo fundraiser demonstrates how individuals profit off of the police, capture, and even death of black and brown bodies. It also demonstrates how companies increase their bottom lines and branding by colluding with an American criminal justice system infused with white supremacy. Companies like GoFundMe, for example, allow people across the country to send the message that white officers killing black men is not only acceptable, it’s worthy of their hard-earned dollars.
GoFundMe’s policy supposedly prohibits campaigns that profit off criminal acts of bigotry, yet the company continues the unjust cycle of both police officers and mega-corporations profiting off of restricted and lifeless black bodies. In July 2014, former NYPD police officer Daniel Pantaleo murdered Eric Garner with a banned chokehold. Garner’s crime? Selling loose cigarettes on a Staten Island sidewalk. Bystanders captured video of the confrontation, during which Garner audibly pleaded “I can’t breathe” eleven times. Despite Garner begging for his life, Pantaleo continued to apply pressure until he had murdered the father of six, right there on the sidewalk.
GoFundMe’s policy explicitly prohibits fundraisers that “promote violence, hate and racial intolerance.” The policy further prohibits fundraisers that “exploit the commission of a crime.” In addition to the video that plainly showed Pantaleo murdering Garner, an administrative judge found the ex-officer guilty of using a banned chokehold; the judge also recommended that the NYPD commissioner fire Pantaleo. The Garner family, activists, and communities of color also testified that the case is another example of licensed killings of black men by police officers. Despite the abundance of concrete evidence of policy violations, GoFundMe continues to permit people to financially support a murderer.
This isn’t the first time the site has hosted a fundraiser for a murderer. GoFundMe allowed a fundraising campaign for ex-police officer Darren Wilson, who murdered 18-year old Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, also in 2014. The campaign raised over $500,000 for the murderer, even as organizations like Color of Change pressured the company to end the fundraiser. Rather than halt the campaign, the company threatened legal action. GoFundMe did remove racist content posted by donors but allowing the fundraiser to continue was the vehicle that drove home the message that the murder of an unarmed black man was not only lawful, but worthy of a financial reward.
There is only one option: GoFundMe MUST end the Daniel Pantaleo fundraiser now. Refusal to do so sends a message that officers who murder unarmed black men can profit financially through the company’s website. An unchecked Pantaleo fundraiser tells grieving families that GoFundMe ignores company policy in service to murderers like Pantaleo, as they not only evade justice, but receive financial compensation for their heinous actions.
Eric Garner’s plea of “I Can’t Breathe” should be enough for GoFundMe to dismantle Pantaleo’s fundraiser, but the company proves every day they simply do not care.
SHOULD BE is a constant theme in this case and so many others that end with a lifeless black body and little to no justice. A video of a man gasping that he can’t breathe SHOULD BE enough to convict an officer of murder. Daniel Pantaleo SHOULD BE in jail and Eric Garner SHOULD BE alive. The fact that black people are human SHOULD BE enough for people to understand that black lives matter. This SHOULD BE a wake-up call, but private companies like GoFundMe will continue profiting and supporting the aggressive policing of black bodies—no matter how many die in the process.
People across the country must tell GoFundMe that hosting a fundraiser for Daniel Pantaleo is despicable. It's on everyday people--especially those who use GoFundMe--to demand that murderers like Daniel Pantaleo must face real-world consequences, rather than cash bonuses for their heinous actions. GoFundMe knows that it is in violation of its policy and the company needs to be held accountable. GoFundMe must end Daniel Pantaleo’s fundraiser immediately and return the money to donors. Keeping the fundraiser active, tramples on the legacy of Eric Garner and his family who continue to fight for justice. If not removed, the gasps and petition of “I can’t breathe” only serves as a reminder that companies like GoFundMe honor and approve of financially supporting criminals rather than victims whose lives that were taken recklessly.