GoFundMe has nixed all campaigns that were arrange to lift bail money for an Arizona rancher accused of killing a migrant who trespassed onto his property last week.
The since-deleted pages dedicated to 73-year-old George Alan Kelly were created after he was arrested Monday on first-degree murder charges and ordered held on $1 million bail.
“GoFundMe’s Terms of Service explicitly prohibit campaigns that raise money to cover the legal defense of anyone formally charged with an alleged violent crime,” a spokesperson told The Post.
“Consistent with this long-standing policy, any fundraising campaigns for the legal defense of somebody charged with murder are faraway from our platform. Donors who contributed to the fundraising campaigns for George Alan Kelly’s legal expenses have been fully refunded.”
Kelly is accused of fatally shooting Mexican citizen Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, 48, on Jan. 30 for trespassing on his Kino Springs cattle ranch property that lies just 150 feet from the US-Mexico border, police have said.
Authorities suspect Cuen-Butimea, who lived in Nogales, Mexico — a city situated just three miles south of Arizona’s border, was crossing into the country illegally.
Cuen-Butimea was reportedly unarmed on the time he was shot, but police recovered two assault-style rifles from Kelly’s property.
It will not be clear whether the 2 men knew each other, or why Kelly allegedly took aim at Cuen-Butimea. But a still-existing fundraiser on Christian site GiveSendGo suggests that Kelly acted with the intention to protect his home.
“Neighbors say that he had been having difficulty keeping invaders out and say that Mr. Kelly would have acted in good faith,” campaign creator Shannon Pritchard wrote.
“It’s a tragedy that an easy farmer, who must be protected by the federal government has been abandoned and needed to defend himself. That’s bad enough, but the federal government that caused this, now wishes to persecute him.”
GiveSendGo co-founder Heather Wilson told Fox News that her company decided to maintain the page up — even after GoFundMe took similar ones down — because the corporate operates on “the presumption of innocent until proven guilty.”
“We understand we should not the judge and jury; we won’t take down campaigns based on own biases,” Wilson said. “We can be praying for all involved.”
Arizona has a “stand your ground” style law that justifies threatening or using physical force against a person as a way of protection.
Kelly’s bail was set at $1 million despite his pleas for a judge to scale back it so he could help his wife run their demanding ranch, the National Review reported.
“She’s there by herself… no person to maintain her, the livestock or the ranch,” he reportedly said.
With Post wires
