Police Officer Michael Slager has been charged with murder after a video revealed that he shot Walter Scott as the man fled. In the video, Slager appears to also plant on Scott the weapon that he said Scott snatched from him. However, the facts as depicted in the video aren’t preventing supporters from raising money for the officer, and from attempting to present Slager as a man of exemplary character — and the slain man as a villain.
An IndieGoGo Campaign, set up after GoFundMe refused to host it, represents an attempt to find support for Michael Slager.
GoFundMe rejected our campaign to support Offc Mike Slager https://t.co/HXR785D6Tl is the new site.
— MichaelSlagerDefense (@DefendMichaelS) April 8, 2015
So far, the campaign has raised a whopping sixty-five dollars, but it may not last long — a number of people have already submitted requests for the Michael Slager fund to be removed based on IndieGoGo’s rules.
@DefendMichaelS Submited a policy violation ticket for supporting a murderer escaping justice. Hopefully they reject you too.
— Alex Mason (@Peacimowen) April 8, 2015
The terms of service for IndieGoGo don’t allow users to raise money for illegal activies, but a defense fund isn’t illegal, even in cases where it is distasteful.
The description of Slager’s defense fund leans heavily on the man’s five years of employment with the police department, and that he hasn’t been disciplined in that time — repeating these facts twice in the six-sentence blurb.
“We’re campaigning to show our Support for Officer Michael T. Slager! We believe in all of our LEOs and want to publicly support them! Although he may have made mis-steps in judgement he was protecting the community. Michael is a former Coast Guardsman with two stepchildren and a wife who is expecting a child, served for more than five years with the department without being disciplined. Please help in any way you can. He has served five years with the department without being disciplined.”
On a “Support Michael Slager” Facebook page , supporters call GoFundMe’s denial an example of “liberal agenda” and “suppression of free speech.”
The fundraiser is reminiscent of the one started for Darren Wilson — except without the comment section.
Despite the video of the event, a number of people are still expressing that the victim was responsible for his own death, and supporting Michael Slager — but if his fundraiser is any indication, the support is in name only, and the case of Michael Slager may end differently than that of Darren Wilson.