Baltimore Police Union Sets Up GoFundMe Page; Gets Taken Down

The Baltimore branch of the Fraternal Order of Police has been very outspoken today about the filing of charges against the six officers involved in the detainment and death of Freddie Gray. First, they sent a letter to State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby calling for an independent prosecutor. Then they called the charges an “egregious rush to judgment.”

And then they tried to set up a GoFundMe page:

We are raising money for Suppport Our Officers . Click to Donate: http://t.co/AtsWqg70UE via @gofundme

— Baltimore City FOP (@FOP3) May 1, 2015

The union said they received “many requests” to open a donations page for the “wrongly charged” officers. They explained, “All monies collected will be used to assist our officers with their living expenses during their unpaid suspension. as well as to help defray their legal expenses.”

Well, about an hour later, the GoFundMe page was taken down:

Apparently our GoFundMe account has been suspended with no explanation. We are working to find a new site for donations. Thank you!

— Baltimore City FOP (@FOP3) May 1, 2015

According to Vocativ, they raised a little over $1000 before it was taken down.

On a related note, there is currently a GoFundMe titled “Rebuilding After Baltimore Riots” that has raised over $9000 in just two days.

[h/t Gawker]
[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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