Featured Image Credit: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for PTPA
Topics: US News, GoFundMe, Social Media
Callum Jones
Topics: US News, GoFundMe, Social Media
Bill Ackman has explained his decision to donate $10,000 to a GoFundMe supporting the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good.
The 37-year-old was fatally shot by Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis on January 7, with the Trump administration claiming that Renee was a 'domestic terrorist' and was attempting to kill the ICE officer.
Released video footage has challenged this narrative, as Renee could be seen attempting to drive away from the scene when Ross shot her three times.
Following the incident, a donation page for Ross was set up, with one of the top donations coming from Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager and founder of the investment management company Pershing Square Capital Management. The billionaire confirmed he donated a staggering $10,000 to the GoFundMe.
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Ackman began by explaining he didn't 'do any due diligence on the case' before making the recent financial donation.
He penned on X: "My donation to Ross has been characterised in social media by the press as my 'giving a reward to the murderer of Renee Good' likely in an effort to generate clicks and boost virality, and by some to advance their political objectives."
The billionaire said he has been 'widely reviled (and worse) by many on social and mainstream media' since donating the staggering sum and even explained how he tried to donate to Renee's fundraiser.
Ackman added: "My purpose in supporting Ross and attempting to support Good was not to make a political statement. I was simply continuing my longstanding commitment to assisting those accused of crimes of providing for their defense."
The billionaire went on to say that 'only a detailed forensic investigation by experts' would reveal exactly what happened, before stating the donation to Ross and his family was a chance for the ICE agent to have 'funds needed for his defence'.
He went on to say the 'social media era' we live in has changed the public's perception of innocence, adding: "In a typical case, the entire world believes you are guilty. You quickly become unemployed and unemployable. You and your family suffer from extreme public scorn in addition to severe financial pressure.”
Ackman then claimed: "You are immediately doxed. You receive hundreds of death threats.
"You and your family’s safety is seriously threatened, some of your friends and family abandon you, and your public life basically ends while you wait years to have an opportunity to defend yourself in court."