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Baltimore Police Still Seeking Donations After GoFundMe Page Shuts Down

By Steph Bazzle
Published on: 06:09 PST, May 3, 2015

Six Baltimore police officers have been charged in the death of Freddie Gray, and GoFundMe has made it clear they aren’t getting any aid through that avenue. Baltimore City’s Fraternal Order of Police association isn’t giving up or giving in, though — they’re still asking for donations for the officers, who they say were wrongly charged.

GoFundMe’s Terms of Service are clear on fundraisers for defense against criminal charges, and the site has shut down several such funds recently. It has particularly made headlines for shutting down fundraisers for businesses charged with discrimination after refusing their services to gay couples.

It’s not clear whether the Baltimore FOP missed that part of the TOS or thought it wouldn’t apply to them, but they set up a GoFundMe for the officers, and it was shut down again in less than an hour.

However, the association isn’t letting this stop them. Like some others who have had GoFundMe accounts shut down recently, the group has merely turned to other sources.

In a tweet Sunday morning, the group gave a mailing address, Paypal account information, and a LEO-only.org link, inviting the public to give donations through any of those sources. After being mocked for posting an image of a Paypal link, meaning anyone who wanted to follow it would have to type it out, the association issued a new tweet, with a clickable link.

Unlike a GoFundMe, of course, this mix of methods makes it impossible to trace what has been donated.

In the meantime, the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police continues to promote their view of the case: that the officers are innocent, the charges indicate a rush to judgement, the prosecutor is crooked and connected to the family, and that unrest in the city is the fault of “hacktivists,” rather than another inexplicable death.

Among others, the FOP account has tweeted a link to CBS Baltimore‘s story about the FOP’s sadness at the “rush to judgement,” and a Breitbart story suggesting that the Gray family’s attorney donated to the prosecutor’s campaign fund.

While the group notes that the Baltimore police officers charged with murder will be engaged in a long legal process and that donations will support their families, it’s notable that the GoFundMe was removed because it explicitly admitted funds would support the officers’ defense.

[Photo by:Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]

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