GoFundMe: $800,000 raised for victims

Five days after white nationalists and counter-protesters clashed in Charlottesville, Virginia more than $800,000 has poured into crowdfunding campaigns for the medical expenses of some of the victims, according to GoFundMe.

On Tuesday, Tyler Magill, a 46-year- old University of Virginia employee and DJ, became the latest victim, suffering a stroke that friends said was caused by an attack by a white nationalist.

“He’s got a long road ahead of him, a lot of physical therapy ahead of him,” said Lisa Moore, a nurse who was present and knows Magill. “He probably needs speech therapy.”

Through GoFundMe, Moore raised more than $100,000 for Magill in one day from more than 2,600 donors, according to the page.

In an email, GoFundMe chief executive Rob Solomon said the company checks to make sure such fundraising efforts are legitimate.

“We’re privileged to see how generous the GoFundMe community is each and every day,” he said. “When tragedy strikes, they are ready to open their hearts — and their wallets — to people in need.”

Solomon said GoFundMe had also worked to keep racism off the site and has eliminated fundraising campaigns for James Alex Fields Jr., the man police say drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing Heather Heyer.

“Following the horrific attack in Charlottesville, we removed multiple campaigns for James Fields, and we will continue to do so if other campaigns are created,” he said. “Those campaigns did not raise any money, and they were immediately removed.”