A fundraiser for a man who was physically attacked at a recent free speech demonstration in San Francisco has disappeared from the GoFundMe website, as several patrons say their donations have been refunded.
The campaign was created to benefit Philip Anderson, 25, who organized a rally on October 17 under the banner of an obscure organization called Team Save America. They assembled at United Nations Plaza downtown to condemn Big Tech censorship, blocks away from Twitter’s headquarters.
According to the Associated Press, “members of the group wore red ‘Make America Great Again’ Trump campaign hats and carried pro-police ‘Thin Blue Line’ flags and U.S. flags.” The outlet reported the event “quickly fell apart…after several hundred counterprotesters surged the area, outnumbering and attacking those gathered, including knocking (Anderson) in the mouth.”
Bloody images of Anderson went viral, amplified by several conservative social media influencers. Video and pictures showed he was missing a front tooth while the other dangled from the socket. Anderson concluded, “Antifa knocked my teeth out.”
Watch the racist terrorists of ANTIFA assault a Black man as they scream the “n” word and other obscenities at him. 👇🏻pic.twitter.com/V6TK5p0T8h
— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) October 18, 2020
YouTube personality Adam Crigler created a GoFundMe drive to “help Philip Anderson fix his teeth.” But on Friday, that fundraiser was removed from the company’s website.
Anderson’s father, Vic, reportedly contacted a television journalist in the Bay Area and said GoFundMe had “banned” his son from its platform.
“They shut down the campaign that was successfully raising funds for his dental expenses and are not allowing withdrawal of the money,” the elder Anderson wrote in an email shared by ABC 7 investigative reporter Dan Noyes. “As a result, 1300 donors are not able to complete their commitments to assisting with medical bills.”
An internet archive of the campaign webpage shows it had raised more than $27,000, categorized as a fund for “Accidents & Emergencies.”
Hey @gofundme is it normal to make a fundraiser for accident and emergency and then flat out say you’re actually using the money to fund a rally? pic.twitter.com/Ni3VmFeucb
— Berkeley Antifa (@berkeleyantifa) October 19, 2020
However, progressive groups encouraged allies to report the GoFundMe campaign for fraud after its organizer saidAnderson would use part of the funds raised “to host another Free Speech Rally and continue his fight!”
Several Twitter users indicated their donations were returned on Friday. According to GoFundMe’s website, a team of “Trust & Safety specialists” protect donors from potential scams and other concerns. “In the rare case that something isn’t right, we will refund your donation,” the company guarantees.
@gofundme Why did you refund my donation to #philipanderson to help fix his teeth? Why can I not find the donation page on your site anymore? pic.twitter.com/pF58USzZoe
— Nolz2010 (@Nolz2010) October 23, 2020
Neither Mr. Crigler nor GoFundMe immediately responded to inquiries from The Daily Wire asking why the donations had been returned.
“For the record, I was the only one who set this up,” Crigler tweeted on Friday, acknowledging the progressive strategy to shut down his campaign. “Every penny would have gone to Philip for his Teeth. They are banding together and @gofundme took down my fundraiser. Nothing about this fundraiser was fraud.”
I see what happened here. For the record, I was the only one who set this up. Every penny would have gone to Philip for his Teeth. They are banding together and @gofundme took down my fundraiser. Nothing about this fundraiser was fraud. pic.twitter.com/asOvhw0xb0
— Adam Crigler (@AdamCrigler) October 23, 2020
Last week, San Francisco police arrested a 35-year-old suspect in the attack on Anderson. KGO News identified the man as “a Black Lives Matter activist” named Adroa Anderson. He was booked on charges of mayhem and hate crime enhancement.
Three police officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries at the rally after being “assaulted with pepper spray and caustic chemicals,” the AP reported.
According to KGO, some dentists have offered to repair Anderson’s teeth for free.