The kitty is “compliant”. This is what a spokesperson for Gofundme, the site which hosts the kitty for the family of the police officer implicated in the death of Nahel, Tuesday in Nanterre, assured AFP on Monday. Entitled “Support for the family of the Nanterre policeman”, the collection was launched by Jean Messiha, a former spokesperson for Eric Zemmour. It reached one million euros at the start of the afternoon, while the initial objective was 50,000 euros. It is four times more than a call for generosity opened on Leetchi in support of Nahel’s mother. Commenting on the kitty, Jean Messiha encourages donors to support the policeman’s family, but also the policeman himself and the “police forces”. The police officer is under investigation for intentional homicide and has been remanded in custody.
The kitty, launched four days ago on this American site also installed in Ireland, arouses a lively controversy and political reactions. Mélanie Vogel, an environmentalist senator, estimated that “the message sent to victims of police violence is monstrous” and called for the collection to be closed. The anonymous collective Sleeping Giants (“the sleeping giants”), which fights against the financing of extremist discourse online, called out Gofundme on Twitter on Monday, brandishing the site’s terms of use.
As the collective, Gofundme points out banish pots which “reflect, incite or promote behavior deemed, in our sole discretion, to be an abuse of power or incitement to terrorism, hatred, violence, harassment, intimidation, discrimination, financing terrorism or intolerance of any kind, or which reflects an abuse of power related to race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, to sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, disability or disease. »
Gofundme also prohibits creating pools for “the legal defense of suspected financial and violent crimes”.
Another pot temporarily closed by Leetchi
Gofundme considers the pot to be “compliant” because the funds “will be paid directly to the family in question. The family has been added as a beneficiary and therefore the funds will go directly to them”. The beneficiary appearing on the fundraising page is a certain “Jean Fleur”, who used a dog as a profile picture. According to the terms of use of the site, the beneficiary of the funds can use a pseudonym.
Jean Messiha had also launched a kitty on the Leetchi site, but it is “temporarily closed”, has indicated Leetchi Friday, in order to control “the use of funds” and the “compliance” of the collection with the general conditions of use of the site. The site is also used by individuals who have seen their car burned or to traders who are victims of the urban violence that followed Nahel’s death on June 27. Several of them have opened pots to cover the damage suffered.
By suspending the kitty launched by Jean Messiha, Leetchi may intend to save himself a new controversy. In 2019, the site had closed 48 hours after its opening a kitty intended for Christophe Dettinger, boxer accused of having hit a gendarme during a Saturday mobilization of yellow vests. In 2021, justice finally estimated this illegal kitty and demanded reimbursement from the donors. “The kitty was initially intended to support a fight consisting of the use of physical violence against the forces of order” and, “by its broad purpose”, “also included a call to compensate for the convictions likely to intervene in the future, which is contrary to public order”, noted the judges.
Leetchi found himself at the heart of a new controversy in March this year, when Dora Moutot, an author and activist prosecuted for “advocating transphobic hatred” opened a kitty to cover her legal costs. “All kitties aimed at covering legal costs are authorized as long as the judgment is not rendered against [de la personne qui l’a ouverte]had developed with 20 minutes a spokeswoman for Leetchi. This does not violate the law or our T&Cs. [conditions générales d’utilisation]. This kitty has since been closed, Dora Moutot indicating that she has raised the necessary sum and that she no longer wishes to use this site in the future.