In the run-up to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, self-proclaimed “patriots” used online crowdfunding websites to fundraise for their participation in the insurrection. After their attempts to overthrow our democracy failed, these same extremists returned to these platforms to crowdfund for their January 6th-related legal expenses. While internet crowdfunding is typically used to support important causes, extremists exploit crowdfunding platforms to finance their activities.

At the United We Stand Summit, President Biden promised to combat the financing of domestic terrorism movements. I urge you to fulfill that promise by mitigating extremist use of crowdfunding platforms.

The ADL Center on Extremism has identified 179 crowdfunding campaigns linked to extremist participation in the events of January 6 – approximately 94% of which were on the website GiveSendGo. These campaigns raised in excess of $4.75 million for extremists. As of today, GiveSendGo continues to allow extremists and bigots to post fundraising campaigns on its platform. Allowing the funding of extremist groups to continue unabated threatens to spread hateful and antidemocratic ideologies that have been known to inspire violence.

As a concerned community member, I ask President Biden to please follow through on his promise to implement a comprehensive approach to curtailing the flow of financing to extremist groups through crowdfunding by authorizing the Department of the Treasury to provide guidance to financial institutions on how to spot extremist fundraising campaigns.