GoFundMe removed a campaign for an Alabama bar created by conservative commentator Candace Owens after text messages emerged Saturday of the bar owner calling George Floyd a “thug.”
The Parkside Cafe in Birmingham, Alabama faced backlash after the controversial texts sent by the bar’s owner Friday morning were posted to social media, according to AL.com.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, an employee posted screenshots of the texts from owner Michael Dykes that said “we should go up one or two dollars on everything until June 10th. Call it a protest tax because all the idiots that went to the protests are responsible for us not being able to open normal hours.”
“Any employees that went or are still going should resign,” he said. “Mr. Floyd was a thug, didn’t deserve to die but honoring a thug is irresponsible.” (RELATED: Candace Owens Calls Out ‘Doomsday Cult’ Leftists, Kaepernick At CPAC)
Lacey King, the employee that posted the text messages, resigned along with two other staff members.
“Please someone give me a new job bc this man is the most hateful person I have ever met in my life,” King wrote in the Facebook post. “The evil texts I’ve received from him over the years are astonishing. This is just one example.”
Dykes’ comments refer to the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody after an officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.
Candace Owens posted a screenshot Sunday on Twitter showing a message from GoFundMe that said they were removing her fundraiser for the Parkside Cafe.
After raising $205,000 in a few hours @gofundme decided to halt my campaign for the Parkside Cafe in Alabama. At their discretion, they deemed that funds raised for a conservative business constitutes “intolerance”
They WILL however give the funds raised thus far to the cafe… pic.twitter.com/Mfw88iDKRi— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) June 7, 2020
“We are writing to inform you that your GoFundMe campaign has been removed because of a violation of our Terms of Service, specifically our prohibition on ‘user content that we deem, in our sole discretion, to be in support of hate, violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination, terrorism, or intolerance of any kind,'” the message read.
GoFundMe said that the bar’s owners will still receive the money that has been raised so far and that they will return money to any donor who asks for a refund.
“After raising $205,000 in a few hours @gofundme decided to halt my campaign for the Parkside Cafe in Alabama,” Owens said in a tweet. “At their discretion, they deemed that funds raised for a conservative business constitutes ‘intolerance.'”
“While I am glad they will give the funds raised this far to the cafe to the owner, I am angry that such a blatant form of discrimination is acceptable by @gofundme,” she added. “There was NOTHING intolerant or violent about raising funds to help a conservative business owner.”
“The GoFundMe was started to support Parkside Cafe, not Dykes personally,” a GoFundMe spokesperson said in an email, according to AL.com. “The funds will be transferred to Parkside Cafe, and we are working to clarify how Parkside Cafe will use the funds raised on their behalf.”