Amazon boots FMI, the online fundraising effort by racist "alt-right" lawyer
It probably seemed like an easy way to raise funds for the Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas (FMI).
FMI created a charity profile on Amazon.com through the Amazon Smile program and pulled 0.5 percent of some purchases toward alt-right causes.
But, the online retailer put an end to the cash collections by white nationalist attorney Kyle Bristow. As of Wednesday, Amazon shut down FMI鈥檚 donation collections by making it ineligible to take part in the charity fundraising program.
Amazon posted a message saying FMI was 鈥渘o longer eligible鈥� for the program and any funds donated could be redirected to another charity.
It isn鈥檛 known how much money the organization, run by Bristow as the legal arm of the alt-right, made from Amazon鈥檚 charity fundraising outlet. But, Bristow, in a tweet Wednesday morning, said it wasn鈥檛 much.
鈥淚t appears doesn鈥檛 like civil rights groups which advocate for the First Amendment!,鈥� wrote Bristow, who has represented alt-right figures in lawsuits around the country. 鈥�0.5% of the purchase price of a cheap Chinese product is very nominal.鈥�
Amazon鈥檚 move is the latest by online companies and social media to drop, block and decertify figures from the alt-right.
The move brings Amazon in line with PayPal, which agreed to block at least 34 organizations from using its services after an聽澳彩开奖 report聽highlighted how extremists used the platform to fund the rally in Charlottesville, Patreon and others in dropping racists and white nationalists from their platforms.
FMI鈥檚 board includes some of the biggest names in the alt-right movement, including activist and attorney Augustus Invictus, Richard B. Spencer and blogger Mike Enoch Peinovich.
And, the organization isn鈥檛 without fundraising outlets, though. Bristow is raising money 鈥� $230 a month in pledges from 20 patrons ($4,600 monthly) 鈥� on the white nationalist fundraising site Hatreon.
