Even though GoFundMe has already rejected a campaign in support of Officer Michael T. Slager, the South Carolina cop who appears on video to have shot an unarmed man in the back after a routine traffic stop, San Francisco-based IndieGogo hasn't shown any such objections. A campaign started by someone named R Owens has raised $1,700 of its $5,000 goal to help Slager, who "may have made mis-steps in judgement" but "is a former Coast Guardsman with two stepchildren and a wife who is expecting a child."
As CBS 5 reports, via Mashable, GoFundMe rejected a campaign by the same group supporting Slager citing a violation of their terms of service. GoFundMe reserves the right to refuse "campaigns in defense of formal charges of heinous crimes, including violent, hateful, or sexual acts."
A group with a Twitter account titled MichaelSlagerDefense then decided to go with IndieGoGo instead, who so far have let the campaign go on since April 7.
GoFundMe rejected our campaign to support Offc Mike Slager https://t.co/HXR785D6Tl is the new site.
— MichaelSlagerDefense (@DefendMichaelS) April 8, 2015
IndieGoGo gave a statement explaining the choice, and obviously admitting their Terms of Use are kind of lax.
Indiegogo allows anyone, anywhere to fund ideas that matter to them and just like other open platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter we don’t judge the content of campaigns as long as they are in compliance with our Terms of Use.
Under IndieGogo's Terms of Use, the only kinds of campaigns they would reject, apart from those promoting illegal activity, would be those that "use the Services to promote violence, degradation, subjugation, discrimination or hatred against individuals or groups based on race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity."
Slager, 33, just to be clear, has been charged with murder in the shooting of Walter L. Scott, the 50-year-old black man whom he had just pulled over in a routine traffic stop. Dashboard camera footage emerged yesterday showing the exchange Slager had with Scott just before the shooting. In the video, Scott can be heard explaining that he doesn't have proof of insurance for the Mercedes-Benz he is driving because he had not purchased the vehicle yet. After Slager goes back to his vehicle, Scott can be seen trying to flee the scene, running from his car on foot.
Update: The IndieGogo campaign appears to have been pulled down, likely because of the press attention. And IndieGogo just released this statement: "Our Trust & Safety team regularly conducts verifications and checks and this campaign did not meet their standards."
