GoFundMe refuses to cancel fundraiser for police officer accused of shooting teen, Nahl M

GoFundMe has refused to remove online crowdfunding for a police officer accused of killing a teenager during a traffic stop in Nanterre, near Paris.

The fundraiser, set up by Jean Messiha, former adviser to far-right politician Marine Le Pen, has raised more than €1 million so far.

The GoFundMe description says the fund exists to provide “support for the family.”

Seventeen-year-old NHL Em was shot at close range last Tuesday as he left the car and crashed shortly thereafter.

The incident, which sparked days of rioting, raised concerns about racism and police behavior within the country, with large crowds attending his funeral.

“Currently, this fundraiser is within the terms as the page indicates that the funds will support the family in question,” a GoFundMe spokesperson said in a statement sent to Euronews.

“They have been added as the beneficiaries, and the money will flow directly to them,” they added.

GoFundMe’s Terms and Conditions prohibit “legal defense of alleged financial and violent crime” and hate speech.

The French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Bourne, had reservations about the fundraiser, but said the government would not get involved.

“The fact that someone close to the far-right launched this fundraiser certainly does not contribute to appeasement,” the prime minister said as she left a meeting with all political groups to discuss the tragedy and the riots that followed.

She added that it was up to the courts to rule “if necessary” on the legality of such a fund, but that “it is not the government that decides whether or not it (is) there.”

The fundraiser angered politicians when it was discovered.

At the weekend, Eric Bothorel, of President Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche party, wrote on Twitter: “Jean Messiha blowing on coals. He is a generator of riots. The sum of several hundred thousand euros for the police officer accused of killing the young Nahil is indecent and scandalous.”

Olivier Faure, president of the Socialist Party, has called on GoFundMe to close the fundraiser, accusing the platform of “hosting a measure of shame”.

Another politician accused GoFundMe of hypocrisy in keeping the fundraiser open.

In 2019, a fund to raise money for an ex-boxer who was filmed punching police officers during anti-government demonstrations was soon closed.

Left-wing politician David Giraud wrote on Twitter: “The supposed message is ‘Kill Arabs, you’ll be millionaires’, and the government is watching this horrific pass without saying anything when they shut down the yellow vest pot in two days that hit a cop. Abhorrent.”