GoFundMe pulls page trying to raise $5 million bail for Waukesha suspect

GoFundMe removed a fundraiser page on its site which aimed to raise $5 million to bail out the man suspected of driving through the Waukesha Christmas parade.

Last week, Darrell Brooks, 33, allegedly drove through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin. At the time of the parade, he was already out on a $1,000 bail from an incident occurring earlier in November. His new bail amount is $5 million, a much more difficult amount to post. People claiming to be his friends set up the fundraising page, which was soon taken down by the host site.

An account held by someone under the name of “James Norton” set up the page, alleging that he hadn’t committed the crime and that he was being targeted because he was Black.

“On November 21st, 2021 our dear friend Darrell Brooks was arrested for allegedly driving his car into a parade, as someone who knows Darrell personally I can tell you that he would NEVER do such a thing and I know he is innocent of what he was charged with,” Norton wrote. “Clearly there is more to the story the media is not telling us and I am seeking to raise the bail so Darrell can be released and speak his truth to his side of the story in this tragic situation that sees another black man behind bars in a purely political and racist trial.”

The message continued: “There is no excuse for this continued treatment of black Americans by prosecutors around the country, everyone must be presumed innocent until proven guilty and we ask that he be treated equally as anyone else in this country would be treated and he should be released until found guilty. #BLM #IStandWithDarrell #NoJusticeNoPeace #RacismIsReal”

Due to the violent nature of the crime, GoFundMe removed the page before it received any donations. Additionally, the site banned the user who made it from using the site again. The fundraising giant said that it developed a “crisis response team” that keeps an eye out for pages like this and that this team discovered the page. “Fundraisers with misuse are very rare, and we take all complaints very seriously,” a spokesperson told the Post.