“GiveSendGo has a history of providing a platform for individuals and organized groups to fund hate groups, promote disinformation and insurrection disguised as ‘protests,’” the text read. “Most of their larger campaigns are, in some way, a continuing threat to democracy.”
GiveSendGo, which describes itself as the “#1 free Christian crowdfunding site,” has become a popular alternative fundraising website among U.S. conservatives in recent years, particularly among outspoken Christian nationalists. The site garnered widespread attention in August 2020 for hosting a fundraiser for Kyle Rittenhouse — a teenager charged and later acquitted after shooting three people, two fatally, during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Months later, the website also hosted funding campaigns for the leader of the right-wing extremist group Proud Boys and for Ali Alexander, an activist who helped to organize the Stop the Steal movement that gathered people in Washington, D.C., ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
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GiveSendGo has also been promoted by the founder of Gab, an alternative social media website popular with conservatives and a known haven for extremists. GiveSendGo has an active account on the site — its statement on the hack was listed as one of Gab’s most popular posts on Tuesday — and advertises on the platform.
According to the CBC, faith is a mainstay of the trucker-led protest in Ottawa, Canada, with sermons delivered from protest stages, participants citing God as inspiration and demonstrators holding signs emblazoned with Scripture. Their financial supporters appear to share the sentiment: A Vice News analysis of leaked, illegally hacked GiveSendGo data from 92,000 trucker protest donors revealed that messages attached to their contributions contained more than 13,000 references to “God” or “Jesus.”
The analysis also revealed that most of the donations appeared to originate from the U.S., where anti-vaccine and anti-mandate sentiment has emerged as a rallying cry for a vocal minority of religious people in the U.S. The cause has become especially popular with religious voices who championed forms of Christian nationalism in the lead up to the Jan. 6 insurrection, and Canadian demonstrators appear to be sharing some of their tactics: Protesters have begun conducting “Jericho Marches” around Canada’s parliamentary precinct, just as religious supporters of former President Donald Trump did in the days before the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
At one point, a Protestant minister reportedly asked people to pray for Canada, saying it has deviated from its Christian foundation.
GiveSendGo says it intends to stay vigilant against hacks.
“We have also performed many security audits to ensure the security of the site before bringing the site back online,” the statement read.
This article originally appeared on ReligionNews.com.
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