Crowdfunding effort aims to cover bail for anti-fascist demonstrators arrested at MSU

By Violet Ikonomova

Mar 7, 2018 at 4:31 pm

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Tom Perkins

Neo-Nazis and protesters clash outside Richard Spencer's speech at MSU Monday.

A fund has been set up to help cover the cost of bail for anti-fascist demonstrators arrested Monday as they attempted to shutdown a speech by white supremacist Richard Spencer at Michigan State University.

Two dozen protesters were arrested after a confrontation with a group of neo-Nazis trying to enter the speech turned violent. About half of the arrested protesters are facing felonies that range from resisting and obstructing to assault, according to the National Lawyers Guild, who is helping provide legal support to the arrestees. Misdemeanors charges include failure to obey the lawful order of a police officer.

Violent clashes break out before Richard Spencer's speech at MSU

Nearly 400 people had contributed to a Funded Justice account by late Wednesday afternoon, bringing the "Stop Spencer" group behind the account to nearly $18,000 of its $30,000 goal. The lawyers guild says the bond for each protester ranged from $2,000 to $5,000

The money raised so far helped get the majority of those arrested out of Ingham County Jail, where they’re being held. As of late Wednesday there were only seven protesters still behind bars, according to the NLG. Charges against some of the protesters had been dropped due to insufficient information.