New fund set up to bail out protesters in southwest Florida who get arrested

New fund set up to bail out protesters in southwest Florida who get arrested

ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE -- LOOKFOR BRIDGING THE GAP OFSOUTHWEST FLORIDA.A NEW ONLINE FUNDRAISER ISCOLLECTING DONATIONS TO POSTBAIL FOR DEMONSTRATORSTHE ORGANIZATION "SHOWING UP FORRACIAL JUSTICE" CREATED THE FUNDAFTER FOUR PEOPLE WERE ARRESTEDAT THE DEMONSTRATION IN NAPLESON MONDAY.FOUR IN YOUR CORNER ROB MANCHSPOKE WITH THE GROUP’S ORGANIZERIN COLLIER COUNTY.HE HAS THE DETAILS FOR US FROMNAPLES TONIGHT.(:02-:07)(:12-:17)(:21-:26)Hemrick says, as soon as newstraveled that people weregetting arrested at thisprotest, she started gettingcalls.Ellen Hemrick, SURJ SWFLOrganizer:"People started offering mmoney for my bail fund.

For thesouthwest Florida SURJ Bail Fundthat didn’t exist."So she quickly scrambled to makeit exist, creating this onlinefundraiser where people candonate.Ellen Hemrick, SURJ SWFLOrganizer:"The bail fund at the moment isjust hours old, and we arealready having thousands ofdollars being donated."Hemrick says, a lot of thatmoney is being donated becausepeople don’t think the chargesare justified.Ellen Hemrick, SURJ SWFLOrganizer:"A number of the protestershave simply been arrested withthe charge of resisting arrestwithout violence.

So you do nothave to have a reason they weretrying to arrest you in thefirst place."Resisting arrest withoutviolence was what Cody Beyer,Garrick Johnson, and ChristopherCampbell were all charged withduring the protest in Naples onTuesday.Johnson and Campbell both hadbails of at least $2,000."The bail system is inherentlyclassist, because rich peoplejust pay and they walk out, andpoor people will sit and sit andsit for weeks and months whilethey’re waiting for theirtrial."Hemrick says she wants to helpany protesters who get arrestedmoving forward, but she saysSURJ also wants to be a resourcefor anyone who is facing bail."We are researching the bestway to set up a long-term fundthat can be used to underminethe cash bail system."TAG:And as of this evening, morethan 20 people have already