A GoFundMe page has gone up to raise money for funeral expenses for Andrew “Tekle” Sundberg, a Black man shot down by two Minneapolis snipers after reportedly shooting inside an apartment building. Within the initial reports of his killing, his fundraiser surpassed its goal of $20,000.
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Online trolls have taken it upon themselves to compare support for Tekle to that of bodega clerk Jose Alba and Kyle Rittenhouse because GoFundMe has taken down both their fundraisers.
Jose Alba, who fatally stabbed an attacker in self-defense at his store, created a GoFundMe for legal defense as he faced charges. His support ranged from NYC Mayor Eric Adams to former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, according to New York Post. However, the fundraiser, reaching $20,000 in donations, was taken down swiftly as it violated the terms of prohibiting “fundraising for the legal defense of a violent crime.”
Read the reactions from the NY Post:
“#GoFundMe should be ASHAMED of themselves!” a fuming critic tweeted Monday. “#JoseAlba defended himself. #TekleSundberg was shooting into a home at a mother and two young children. SHAME ON YOU!”
Another Twitter user simply called GoFundMe’s move, “Unreal.”
On the same side of the internet, people made a fuss about Kyle Rittenhouse’s fundraiser being taken down as well. According to Newsweek, GoFundMe banned causes raising money to support Rittenhouse’s legal defense after receiving charges for killing two people in a Kenosha protest.
These fundraisers were taken down for the same reason: violating the policy on fundraising for legal defense.
Check these reactions from Newsweek:
“Kyle Rittenhouse’s GoFundMe was removed for promoting violence because he got persecuted for self-defense,” one Twitter user, Misheru Katorin, posted.
“Meanwhile they allow a crazy shooter who shot into the apartment complex of a family to stay up. What’s up with that? @gofundme.”
GoFundMe bars campaigns for “the legal defense of alleged crimes associated with hate, violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination, terrorism, or intolerance of any kind.”
Arguably, Rittenhouse can be considered a “crazy shooter” for crossing state lines with a rifle to kill BLM demonstrators. Also, a fundraiser for a funeral is certainly different from raising money to hire a defense attorney.
Alba’s charges ended up getting dropped, according to The New York Times. We all know Rittenhouse is walking free. And while Tekle can’t speak a word to defend himself, this is what the internet comes to as his family tries to lay him to rest.
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