GoFundMe tells the Canadian Freedom Convoy and its donors to GoFundThemselves
Over the past weeks, the GoFundMe account supporting the Canadian Freedom Convoy has raised over $9 million from small donors. Today, at the request of the Trudeau dictatorship, that account was shut down. To add injury to insult, GoFundMe has decided to repurpose the donations, sending them to a charity that has the approval of that corporation rather than returning them to the donors. You have to submit an “application” to get your money back. Here is GoFundMe’s statement:
“Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.”
Violence? I’ve read a lot about this demonstration, and it’s been remarkably peaceful, not just “mostly peaceful” like the Antifa riots. Then again, since “words are violence” if they’re the wrong words coming from the wrong side, and violence isn’t violence if it comes from the right side (which would be the left), I guess the truckers are inherently violent just by having a demonstration at all.
And by scaring poor Prime Minister Trudeau, who felt he had to flee Ottawa and go into hiding due to fear. Or due to pretend fear; I really don’t know which, but I think he really is afraid of some sort of general strike starting.
I can just imagine the pressure that was put on GoFundMe to do this. Then again, they’re the same folks who did the following:
…GoFundMe deactivated the account raising money for Kyle Rittenhouse’s legal defense while leaving in place the funding effort to bail out BLM rioters. They have an active fundraising page for Gaige “Lefty” Grosskreutz, a felon who brandished a firearm at Rittenhouse. Don’t use these people. Ever. Don’t contribute to fundraisers on their site and let the organizers know why.
Ah, but consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. And the minds of the people who run GoFundMe are anything but small.
What was that definition of “fascism” in the economic sense again?:
Where socialism sought totalitarian control of a society’s economic processes through direct state operation of the means of production, fascism sought that control indirectly, through domination of nominally private owners. Where socialism nationalized property explicitly, fascism did so implicitly, by requiring owners to use their property in the “national interest”—that is, as the autocratic authority conceived it.
Historical fascism actually went further than that in terms of explicit government control of private industry. But the underpinnings – that private companies do the government’s bidding while preserving the appearance of autonomy – are now present in Canada.
And not only in Canada. The US isn’t far behind.
Apparently you have to request a refund so your go fund me donation is not redirected.
https://support.gofundme.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=4417744045211
STRIKE!
Viva Frei has done like 15 hours of live streaming from Ottawa the last five days and I’ve watched some of it including tonight and it sure seems like the vast majority of people just want their freedom and to be part of something after being told for two years that what they knew to be true was all kinds of wrong, selfish, etc.
Honestly I would say of the complaints I’ve heard about the truckers the only one that probably is true are the noise complaints. That would not be cool if you lived nearby.
Sarah Hoyt’s “Alarm Bell” seems partly set off by the trucker business:
_________________________________
Look, I don’t have time to do a deep dive and confirm the things I’ve been told. I just don’t right now, or for the next couple of weeks. BUT–
The Canadian truckers are having an impact. Their government is trying to be stupid in all the traditional lefty ways: police! Army!
If they set off anything that communicates here, OUR idiots are just as stupid (I think it’s impossible to be dumber than little Justin) BUT more self-confident and even more panicky.
Maybe this will pass us by without blowing up. Maybe the 30 second bomb is defective.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/02/04/this-is-the-alarm-bell/
_________________________________
I’ll not deny that things could go non-linear at any moment, given all the goofy-stupid-desperate stuff going on right now.
The elites see they are about to lose a whole lot of power, if things proceed under their expected momentum. They may resort to desperate measures. This is my main fear for 2022.
Here is a very interesting perspective, almost a kind of awakening, by someone who lives in the neighborhood in Ottawa and finally went out for a stroll last night to engage the protestors.
https://maybury.ca/the-reformed-physicist/2022/02/03/a-night-with-the-untouchables/
Quite a good short read.
Also, requesting a donation back from GFM might be one way, but I am also seeing suggestions that victims (because they are) should file a ‘charge back’ with their banks, if they made donations from their accounts there. That way, GFM apparently has to pay an additional $10 – 15 charge to return each donation so claimed.
Also, if a credit card was used, then there is advice that a fraud claim should be filed – although I’m not sure if this will stand. Clearly disgusting and immoral business practices. Finally, I am also reading that the fine print from GiveSendGo, the funding organization that has stepped up, actually contains similar terms and therefore may be prone to similar pressure-tactics.
Looking forward to seeing the red-state AG’s step up on this, and also to see the class-actions start. GFM is still holding open their funding for several violent criminals.
Aggie,
Thanks for that link it was a great read and jibes with a lot of what Viva Frei has been live-streaming from Ottawa this week.
Aggie @ 11:46: I share your anticipation of action by red-state AG’s against GFM for breach of trust, fraud, unjust enrichment, maybe outright theft. Private parties (donors) should have standing to seek reimbursement, breach of fiduciary duty, etc. Not clear to me whether GFM is a trustee/fiduciary or a contractual agent or some kind of new intermediary in accepting money and holding it and disbursing it. Some new law could be made here, and it might cost GFM a bunch. Hope so.
But never mind litigation, I think GFM has just destroyed its brand entirely. And without a sterling reputation, it’s nothing.
Someone needs to set up a DISTINCTLY conservative/ libertarian version of Go Fund Me.
Then again, our own leftist controlled government might set up a deliberate entrapment sting type operation where they set up a “terrorist” cell and then bust the site for funding it.
jon baker: GiveSendGo.
It’s a Christian outfit like Gab. Set up precisely to help people oppressed by Leftie groups.
@ Aggie > “….Looking forward to seeing the red-state AG’s step up on this, and also to see the class-actions start. GFM is still holding open their funding for several violent criminals.”
I read the Hoyt column that huxley linked, and also the comments; was going to link some of them relative to GFM, but you covered most of their suggestions.
However, there were several views from Canadians or others who seem to have inside information, which might be of interest.
(I won’t bother with the blockquotes)
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/02/04/this-is-the-alarm-bell/#comment-825369
As I think I said earlier, what seems to have given GoFundMe the fig leaf was the Ottawa City Council floating the idea of simply seizing the money (civil asset forfeiture, anyone?) to “cover policing costs”.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/02/04/this-is-the-alarm-bell/#comment-825207
The Ottawa police are threatening the donors now. Interesting strategy since the donors are isolated and can be picked off. Threaten the people back home to weaken the resolve of the front line people. I suspect they won’t do anything though. The thing is that the local cops have to live among the protestors, which is why only the RCMP, who are strangers, have acted at all. Yes, the NYPD to its everlasting shame has moved against the people, but this is much bigger.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/02/04/this-is-the-alarm-bell/#comment-825299
Again, perhaps. I agree the truckers can shut it all down but I think you underestimate the Davos man’s psychopathy. They don’t care if the people starve so long as they don’t.
To that point, Psaki just claimed that lockdowns were a Trump thing. I think they’ve counted noses and are looking for a way out. None of them want to be Ceasescu. The Canadian Davos clique is floating the domestic terrorism thing but it really doesn’t fly when the truckers show films of little kids doing the Conga in the snow. if the truckers can hold the line we might be seeing the end of this thing.
I think the fact that both my wife and Sarah woke up today with the feeling that something was happening and it might be world historic interesting. I’ve found that women’s intuitions are often very accurate. At least, one ignores them at one’s peril.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/02/04/this-is-the-alarm-bell/#comment-825368
I don’t know if even the majority of truckers understand the leverage they have on Brandeau, Brandon and their fellow busybodies, in terms of passive Irish democracy.
The government does not “own” truckers. It can’t arrest them all. – not even close – but they can find other places to do business than in the urban feedlots.
All the truckers need to do, if things begin to get hot, is leave the urban areas. After all, between COVID and crime, most of them could be considered unsafe these days.
And stay out of them, for at least “nine meals”.
The government and its guns will then have other concerns to focus on. OTOH any attempt to force enough truckers to return will reinforce the truckers’ message, that the government is embracing tyranny in its self-righteousness. The Tarkin Effect becomes significant.
Of course, this is why we need to seriously consider these words from our hostess here … particularly those of us who live in an urban feedlot and/or have one positioned to be a chokepoint in our supply chains,
Some more of the discussion at Sarah Hoyt’s blog, because it’s adjacent to much of the discussion here, but with some additional quirks.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/02/04/this-is-the-alarm-bell/#comment-825378
GiveSendGo is billing itself as the current alternative (they handled some of the more, er, cancelled people), and Gab is working on GabPay. IIRC, they pretty well had to buy a bank to get money transferred to them.
(Sarah remarked that this is INTERNATIONAL fraud, given that many donors are not Canadian.)
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/02/04/this-is-the-alarm-bell/#comment-825244
Oddly, the best thing the Canadian authorities could do is let it fizzle out since the protestors have to earn a living and can’t stay their indefinitely. The problem is that They’re stupid, arrogant narcissists and the peasants have dared defy them.
The real question is what will happen once the violence starts.
(and also his next comment)
Still the governments biggest advantage is that they have nothing but time. they get paid to stand there. The truckers gotta eat.
I suspect that the politicians want violence now because they’re being defied but the people who have to mete out the violence don’t want to mete it out, hence the police chief in Ottawa making vague threats. he already lost the plot when he said that there was no police solution. Did he have a solution it would be done.
Western provinces look to have already rolled over, only the liberal run provinces are holding on. I’m wondering which liberal politician will knife Trudeau in the back. So far, the Canadian swamp has been unanimous against the people but ambition may well prevail.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/02/04/this-is-the-alarm-bell/#comment-825215
A little perspective: We all have our horrors to fear. Every generation.
That said, There’s no question that we are headed for a reckoning. Who gets reckoned with remains to be seen.
That comment included one of the two embeds of a Kingston Trio song, Merry Little Minuet. Looks like this is not a new thing.
https://youtu.be/JVUh5OaiADc
Canadian stories courtesy of Sarah Hoyt’s commenters.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/first-reading-military-tells-ottawa-to-find-someone-else-to-evict-the-truckers
(I’ve omitted the military part, as I’ve seen those stories on lots of US media)
Meanwhile, Torontonians are worrying that their downtown will be the next to fall victim to an invasion of big rigs that refuse to leave . So far, the only evidence of a Toronto demonstration is a series of flyers circulating online calling for a convoy to blockade the Ontario Legislation Assembly starting on Saturday, although it’s worth noting that’s exactly how Freedom Convoy started. Rather than attempt to deter such a thing, Ontario Premier Doug Ford simply asked them to be peaceful. “If people want to come down and protest, God bless them,” he said.
…
Freedom Convoy is technically polling higher than the Liberal Party of Canada right now . A new Abacus Data poll found that 32 per cent of Canadians “have a lot in common with the protesters and how they see things.” That’s not a lot, but the latest Nanos poll had the Liberals polling at just 28.2 per cent if an election were to be held tomorrow. Another interesting takeaway from the Abacus Poll? Of Green Party supporters, 57 per cent are on board with the truckers.
…
GoFundMe has suspended Freedom Convoy’s official online fundraiser after it hit $10 million . The reason? “We strictly prohibit user content that reflects or promotes behavior in support of violence,” wrote GoFundMe in a statement. If you’re a convoy supporter, this is probably where you’d be mentioning that GoFundMe didn’t feel the need to do anything of the sort in prior Canadian protests that tore down statues or used heavy equipment to strand a bunch of pipeline workers in the middle of nowhere amidst historic flooding.
…
Arguably a more consequential convoy blockade (at least from an economic standpoint) is the one backing up cross-border trade at the Coutts, Alta. border crossing. On Wednesday the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation weighed in on the blockade, asking authorities to arrest participants as per The Critical Infrastructure Defense Act, an Alberta law passed in 2020 with the intention of barring a recent spate of Indigenous-led blockades of highways and rail lines. “ If this blockade was being organized by Indigenous people, we have no doubt that authorities would respond quickly,” they wrote.
GFM has a history of stopping any account of someone not fighting For a Leftist cause or against the Government, why anyone thought it wouldn’t find a reason her surprises me. No one needs to twist their arm to get GFM to take the Leftists view.
Here’s a discussion on GoFundMe’s terms of service and possible avenues of response. Comments to the video are also interesting.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=111&v=g-iUMNG4a2g&feature=emb_title
From Don Surber: outcry from the public forced the company to back down in a 4 AM tweet, “The update we issued earlier enabled all donors to get a refund and outlined a plan to distribute remaining funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers. However, due to donor feedback, we are simplifying the process and automatically refunding donation
(via CTH) This is the bigger threat to the truck convoy – an assault on the truckers as businesses through insurance, loans, etc. This is a tweet from a leftie activist:
https://mobile.twitter.com/TraceyKent/status/1489652642506850304
Redirecting the donations is embezzlement. If federal prosecutors were not agents of the Democratic Party and federal judges not their accomplices, there would be criminal charges filed against the corporations and the corporate officers involved. The corporation and the officers would also be subject to civil liability with punitive damages. If you could not prosecute them criminally, punitive damages would be appropriate because it is near criminal conduct.
Note, New York law has a charge ‘official misconduct’ which might cover the behavior of the public officials involved, with the GoFundMe officials liable as accomplices.
GoFundMe is revealing bit by bit that they’re a bunch of fraudsters. Racketeering charges, and class action suits should work to have the company dissolved.
Western provinces look to have already rolled over, only the liberal run provinces are holding on. I’m wondering which liberal politician will knife Trudeau in the back. So far, the Canadian swamp has been unanimous against the people but ambition may well prevail.
Aside from BC, Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, and the Arctic territories, Canada’s provincial legislatures are controlled by supposedly starboard parties (the Conservative Party in the Anglophone provinces, the CAQ in Quebec). The Conservative Party and the CAQ are deeply implicated in the abuse of Canadian citizens. The government which moved to ban roadside demonstrations was the Conservative ministry in Nova Scotia. Imagine the Republican Party stem to stern was run by shmucks like Richard Burr and Rob Portman and you can see what Canadians face from their political establishment. If I’m not mistaken, the same applies in re the Australian starboard (the Liberal Party there).
Nick Rekieta (Rekieta Law youtuber) noted that GFM has an arbitration clause in its terms of service, and that the fee was $3,000, of which individuals going that route would pay $250 but GFM would pick up the rest.
Even if a few percent of the givers go that route, GFM would be out a lot of money and be tied up for a while.
GoFundMe’s backdown might forestall my very pleasant dream last night, where Elon Musk simply buys the company outright, fires the leftists, and ends the discrimination.
“Bake that cake,” yeah, right. Funny how that only goes one way.
https://media.notthebee.com/articles/article-61f40117331b0.jpg
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1486772334635536395
@ Eva Marie > “This is the bigger threat to the truck convoy – an assault on the truckers as businesses through insurance, loans, etc.”
The lawfare has already started:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/lawsuit-filed-against-convoy-organizers-seeking-damages-on-behalf-of-downtown-ottawa-residents-1.5768731
The assertions are primarily that honking occurs “round the clock,” but that has been debunked by numerous stories outside the Captive Broadcasting Company and other government media; see the link from Aggie “A night with the untouchables.”
Also, the aggrieved residents admit they had no problem with prior protests in the city:
“It also notes that many of the residents who live downtown and specifically around Parliament Hill are no strangers to political protests and understand the importance of freedom of association, assembly and expression, however they “have never experienced anything like the constant and excruciatingly loud horns of the defendants’ Freedom Convoy.”
Among the injuries and damages alleged are: difficulty concentrating; interference with quiet enjoyment of home; headaches; and difficulty sleeping.”
Obviously, those other mostly peaceful protestors didn’t burn any buildings or loot stores.* Of course, neither have the truckers.
Bottom line from the CTV post:
“The allegations made in the statement of claim have not been proven in court.”
The process is the punishment, especially if GoFundMe embezzles your legal defense fund.
*But they have done this:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/02/americas/canada-queen-victoria-elizabeth-toppled-intl/index.html
Protesters have toppled statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II in the Canadian city of Winnipeg as anger grows over the discovery of the remains of hundreds of children in unmarked graves at former indigenous schools.
A crowd chanted “no pride in genocide” before pulling down the statues of the monarchs.
The action took place on Canada Day on Thursday, when traditionally celebrations take place across the country.
https://www.tmz.com/2021/06/25/montreal-canadiens-riots-stanley-cup-canada-nhl-hockey/
Cops say fans were just rowdy as hell — setting off fireworks, fighting and even attacking police officers.
At one point, a group of Habs fans — still wearing Habs gear — smashed up a police car and flipped it upside down!!
https://spectator.org/montreal-lockdown-riot-canada-trudeau/
April 13, 2021
While the United States dealt with yet another night of violent rioting in response to a police shooting in Minnesota, riots were also occurring in Montreal, for a different reason.
Montreal is no stranger to turmoil and rioting, but Sunday’s culprits were anti-lockdown protesters, not Quebecois nationalists. The protests were in response to a new 8 p.m curfew in the city as a result of increased community spread of COVID-19, with dissidents chanting “Freedom for the young.” It seems the French revolutionary spirit has not completely left the Montrealers; their actions included setting fires and smashing storefronts. There were seven arrests and over 100 citations for violation of public health rules.
Interesting exchange in the voluminous comments at David Maybury’s post (which I recommend; it reminds me of Salena Zito’s reports from flyover country in America, where she dared to go where no leftist journalist thought worthwhile, to talk to the actual people being “reported” on).
https://maybury.ca/the-reformed-physicist/2022/02/03/a-night-with-the-untouchables/#comment-418
Marjorie Stevens says:
February 4, 2022 at 9:56 pm
I doubt that the CBC would ever take the time to read this amazing and honest letter. They are looking for the one idiot carrying a Nazi flag, or someone who is trying to cause trouble. They don’t want to hear about the passion these amazing truckers have for a country that wants to be free. They don’t want to be forced to get a “medical vaccine” to be able to travel in our own country, ever mind the world! God bless these men and women!!
Reply
Chris Walker says:
February 5, 2022 at 12:43 am
Making assumptions about one “side” is just as bad as making assumptions about the “other side.” I work for the CBC, I read the whole letter, and I found it very interesting.
* * *
The internet reveals that Walker is a radio personality in Canada.
I wonder if he will do any actual reporting on the protestors now, or will he parrot the government line? I’m not willing to listen in and find out, but maybe some Canadians here know something about him.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/author/chris-walker-1.4389287
It sounds like GFM might back down but I agree with the comment above that no one should be surprised that this outfit leans left. They have refused a number of causes like Rittenhouse.
This sounds like good news.
The backlash against the crowdfunding company was fast, massive and direct. Facing legal action, U.S. state lawsuits and massive charge-back fees from outraged donors contesting refunds through their banks and credit cards, GoFundMe had an overnight change in position:
Some more on the Canadian scene from last year; the convoy is the icing on what has been a growing cake since early in 2020, led in the beginning by the Polish pastor and others.
https://spectator.org/montreal-lockdown-riot-canada-trudeau/
Some Canadians have had enough of the lockdowns.
by EVAN MAGUIRE
April 13, 2021, 1:29 PM
*The now famous Johns Hopkins report is late to the game.
When you don’t listen to the reasonable objections of reasonable people, you get bigger protests — although still quite reasonable, despite the whining of the Ottawans deprived of the comforts of life and undisturbed sleep.
Somehow, the governments around the world understood that when BLM was the organizer.
Now, not so much.
In re the lawfare tactic: yes, truckers are “businesses” and have a vulnerability that Antifa obviously does not. BLM is a “business” as well (a crooked one, apparently), but no one ever filed a lawsuit against them for damages, that I know of.
It’s a great tactic, in theory, because you can chip away at their resources and attack them individually, as with the J6 Gulag prisoners.
However, as I noted on another thread, the truckers have a lot more in their favor in this game: organization, supporters, and (assuming someone takes over for GoFundMe the embezzlers), resources.
If the suits begin to seriously threaten the truckers’ livelihoods, there will be a backlash that will take Canada down completely.
despite the whining of the Ottawans deprived of the comforts of life and undisturbed sleep.
The personal account linked above makes clear that the truckers are not honking at night. They stop at 6 PM. More lies from the usual suspects,.
Viva Frei is livestreaming right now. It’s pretty inspiring to just hear from everyday people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTATJjWSwP8
I support the truckers, but not them honking their horns all day! Maybe the “federal data scientist” from Aggie’s link has good soundproofing, or he doesn’t work at home?
Aggie: Profuse thanks for the link to that Canadian’s utterly stellar testimony. I have shared it broadly.
Pingback:Keep on Truckin’ – Chicago Boyz
It sounds like GFM might back down but I agree with the comment above that no one should be surprised that this outfit leans left. They have refused a number of causes like Rittenhouse.
While allowing a campaign to raise funds for the man in Waukesha, Wisconsin who drove his SUV into a collection of youngsters and old women.
Note, we take it for granted that ‘the Left’ considers it impermissible a priori for a Deplorable to finance a legal defense in a criminal case, and one which incorporates a cognizable claim of self-defense captured on video. That’s tantamount to a declaration of war, as is the collusion between prosecutors and judges in the J6 cases. As is HR1. What we all do about that is anyone’s guess.
And, yes, I do blame ordinary street-level Democrats for this. I am not aware of one in my social circle who has or ever would forthrightly condemn the efforts to sabotage Kyle Rittenhouse’s attempts to exercise his constitutional rights, or expressed any dismay at all about the abuse of the J6 defendants, or objected to the erosion of ballot security. Put it in front of their nose, and you’ll just get sophistries and evasions.
This is fraud – bait and switch – and if GoFundMe is doing this they should be prosecuted on that basis.
If GFM wants to rescind a program like this, the very least in acceptable behavior is that they are required to return the money to the donors at GFM’s own expense.
I’m just waiting for the Libertarian/Neo-Con types that are going to tell us that GFM is a private company so they can do what they want to do blah blah blah…
Prosecution and civil liability lawsuits are what should be the response to this kind of behavior by a private company.
Just to close this out, here is Jonathan Turley’s legal opinion of GoFraudMe.
Their objective is primarily to sequester funds that might otherwise have gotten into the hands of the intended recipients.
If they have to give it back to donors later, they don’t care, because the damage has already been done if they can hold onto it long enough, because people don’t usually have resources to donate to more than one organization at the same time.
It may be that the truckers are pulling new donors to GiveSendGo, or people are mad enough to double their bets, knowing they will get a refund from GFM eventually.
As someone else said, Elon Musk can fund the truckers out of pocket change; I hope he gets mad enough to buy GoF_Me and shut it down.
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/02/06/gofundme-and-the-nags-head-light-how-a-company-is/
Turley provides another argument in favor of the proposition that GoFundMe is run by fraudsters. Prosecute the executives, prosecute the corporation. Shut it down.