COLLIER COUNTY — A new online fundraiser is collecting donations to post bail for protesters.
The organization “Showing Up for Racial Justice” said it created the fund after four people were arrested at the protest in Naples on Monday.
One of those people was Phillip Galvan. His bail was set at $500. SURJ Organizer Ellen Hemrick said, that's not right. As soon as people started getting arrested, she started getting calls.
“People started offering me money for my bail fund. For the Southwest Florida SURJ Bail Fund that didn’t exist," said Hemrick.
So she quickly scrambled to make it exist, creating this online fundraiserwhere people can donate.
“The bail fund at the moment is just hours old, and we are already having thousands of dollars being donated," said Hemrick.
Hemrick said, a lot of that money is being donated because people don’t think the charges are justified.
“A number of the protesters have simply been arrested with the charge of resisting arrest without violence. So you do not have to have a reason they were trying to arrest you in the first place," said Hemrick.
Resisting Arrest Without Violence was what Cody Beyer, Garrick Johnson, and Christopher Campbell were all charged with during the protest in Naples on Tuesday. Johnson and Campbell both had bails of at least $2,000.
“The bail system is inherently classist, because rich people just pay and they walk out, and poor people will sit and sit and sit for weeks and months while they’re waiting for their trial," said Hemrick.
Hemrick said she wants to help any protesters who get arrested moving forward, but she says SURJ also wants to be a resource for anyone who is facing bail.
“We are researching the best way to set up a long-term fund that can be used to undermine the cash bail system," said Hemrick.
As of Thursday evening, more than 20 people had already contributed to the fund.
