GoFundMe campaign for officer charged with Walter Scott killing shut down

GoFundMehas shut down a campaign to raisemoney for the South Carolina police officer charged with murder after he shot an unarmed black man eight times in the back during a routine traffic stop.

Patrolman Michael Slager, 33, of theNorth Charleston Police Departmentwas fired and charged with first-degree murderafter a bystander's video recorded him firingat 50-year-old Walter Scott as he ran away, killing him earlier this week.

GoFundMe confirmed it had removed thecampaign for what it called a violation of its terms and conditions, according to reports on Think Progress and other blogs.

GoFundMebans "campaigns in defence of formal charges of heinous crimes, including violent, hatefulor sexual acts."

The crowdfunding website was facing pressure on Twitter from users who urged it to remove the page.

When news that the campaign had been taken down spread, Twitter users again responded.

However, rival service Indiegogomaintainedits page to raise money for Slager. Its goal is to raise $5,000, and after its first day, the campaign hadraised just under $400 from 20 people.

"We're campaigning to show our Support for Officer Michael T. Slager! We believe in all of our LEOs and want to publicly support them!," the webpage reads.

The campaign has associated Twitter,Facebookand YouTubeaccounts.

An Indiegogo representative told the blog Mashable that the site "allows anyone, anywhere to fund ideas that matter to them and just like other open platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter we don't judge the content of campaigns as long as they are in compliance with our Terms of Use."

Indiegogois also facing criticism and threats of a boycottfor allowing the campaign to continue.