The legal defense fund for U.S. Marine Corps vet Daniel Penny got a major boost when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stepped forward to show his support, with donations soon topping $1 million.
“We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Left’s pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law-abiding citizens. We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Let’s show this Marine… America’s got his back,” DeSantis tweeted, linking to a GiveSendGo campaign set up for the former Marine.
Donations were coming so fast that the Christian crowdfunding website’s servers were temporarily overwhelmed as conscientious-minded people came forward to show Penny that they do indeed have his back — people like the iconic rocker Kid Rock.
Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the New York City subway death of a violent homeless man who was allegedly threatening him and others on a train — he subdued the man, Jordan Neely, in a chokehold until authorities could intervene and Neely never regained consciousness after blacking out. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has been caught up in persecuting former President Donald Trump, yielded to pressure from the left and charged the Marine veteran after police opted to let him go.
Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, left this message with his $5,000 donation: “Mr. Penny is a hero. Alvin Bragg is a POS. Kid Rock.”
Political commentator Tim Pool is currently the top contributor, donating $20,000 Monday morning, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running to be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, gave $10,000.
The defense fund stands at nearly $2.4 million as of this writing, with over 49,000 people contributing. Jacob Wells, the co-founder of GiveSendGo, told Fox News that Penny’s campaign is the No. 2 top performer ever, with donations coming in at $1,000 a minute at one point.
“It definitely has sparked an emotional response with many people,” he added.
On Saturday, GiveSendGo offered an explanation of why it allowed the campaign.
“People ask – Why allow legal defense fundraising??? Because despite thinking we are pretty smart sometimes, we don’t qualify (and neither do you) to be the judge and jury based on what we see in social media and in the news,” the site said in a tweet.
Because despite thinking we are pretty smart sometimes, we don’t qualify (and neither do you) to be the judge and jury based on what we see in social media and in the news.
Let the facts come out in trial and let justice be served.
— GiveSendGo (@GiveSendGo) May 13, 2023
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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