GoFundMe has frozen $400,000 raised by a college student for a homeless man in Washington DC.
The crowdfunding site froze the funds after details of the man’s violent past emerged, The Blast reported.
Sanai Graden shared a TikTok video about her encounter with Alonzo Douglas Hebron outside a Washington, D.C. grocery store.
Hebron approached Graden and asked her to buy him a cup of tea.
After spending time talking to Hebron, Graden learned that he was homeless and diagnosed with prostate cancer.
She paid for his medication at the pharmacy, got him some tea, and booked him a hotel room.
Graden recorded her good deeds in a viral TikTok video.
Graden also started a GoFundMe page to raise donations for Hebron.
Hebron’s story was picked up by local news programs and went viral on social media.
Within days, the GoFundMe account raised over $402,000 before GFM paused the campaign.
A woman saw the story on the news and recognized Hebron. She contacted the outlet to report his violent past.
The woman said she was attacked by Hebron in 2020.
Now GoFundMe has frozen the campaign, per its Terms of Service that prohibits raising money for perpetrators of violent crimes.
“I’m speechless,” the victim told FOX5 News. “I do not understand how a human being can act like this. He’s a sociopath. He does not have a sense of remorse.”
Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police confirmed that Hebron assaulted a woman in June 2020 and was arrested days later.
“The suspect assaulted the victim and stole the victim’s property. The suspect fled the scene. The victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries,” the news release reads.
“On Friday, June 26, 2020, 61 year-old Alonzo Douglas Hebron, of No Fixed Address, was arrested and charged with Robbery (Force & Violence) and Aggravated Assault.”
Another TikToker, Santana Cruise & Travel, criticized GoFundMe for holding on to the cash,
“They will not release the funds,” she said. “So you mean to tell me, because of something this man did in his past, four years ago plus, can anybody explain to me what the money that was raised to help the homeless man, Alonzo, has to do with what he did four-plus years ago?”
Watch the video below.
@hustlanani Please help me help him !
