We’ll be honest, we’re not spending hours upon hours combing through GoFundMe this week to sniff out any potentially fake fundraisers from scammers hoping to make a buck on the Pulse shooting tragedy. First, officials are still piecing together what happened this past weekend. Second, news reports are still spotty at best. Third, we absolutely do not want to jump the gun and accuse anyone of anything just because they don’t really know how to use GoFundMe right.
That said, we were alerted to this one this morning and have to say, it seems a little fishy.
The GoFundMe page by Brand White was started on June 12.
It states:
“Today, at 2am, My cousin and I were at Pulse in Orlando. I was shot 2 times, once in my shoulder and once in my hand. I am a 30 year old single mother of 2 children. I am a pet groomer and work very hard for my family. I am currently in the hospital, recovering from surgery and receiving a blood transfusion as I type this. I am devastated and heartbroken. My cousin hasn’t been found yet and we fear the worst. Unfortunately, with my career, I have no medical insurance or short term disability and can really use some prayers and help. If anyone has ANY questions, please feel free to ask! God Bless You all Brandi
I appreciate the well wishes. I don’t have very much family so this is really keeping me going! I don’t have someone who could post and maintain this gofundme for me. And I know with what I’ve already gone thru today, it’s a long recovery ahead of me. I want to make sure we are ok thru my healing”
Someone named Brand White was quoted across multiple news outlets in the afternoon after the shooting thusly:
Orlando resident Brand White was hurt during the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub Sunday that claimed the lives of 50 people and injured 53 others.
“We are dancing and all of a sudden it just started like a rolling thunder, loud and everything went black,” said Orlando resident Brand White, who was shot.
The 30-year-old was with his cousin, who mentioned something about “a guy with a bomb.” After that, White said, his memory is fuzzy; he said he doesn’t recall leaving the club or who took him to the hospital.
White was shot in the shoulder.
His cousin was unaccounted for — no one had heard from him as of 2:45 p.m.
Wait, he?
Meanwhile, the Toronto Sun genders Brand as a gal:
Brand White and her cousin were on the dance floor in the main room when White’s cousin yelled to her, “B, it’s a guy with a bomb!” Before she knew it, White was hit in the shoulder.
“All of a sudden it just started like a rolling thunder, loud and everything went black,” White wrote in a Facebook message to an Associated Press reporter from her hospital room Sunday. “I think I was trampled.”
She didn’t recall leaving the club, but she remembered the state she was in: “Covered head to toe in blood.”
“I remember screaming and mass chaos,” she wrote. “There were hundreds of people there.”
She made it to the hospital, where she got a blood transfusion. As Sunday wore on, her cousin remained missing.
A Brand White was the first to comment on the “official” Equality Florida GoFundMe page for victims of the Pulse shooting:
Why are we telling you all this? Glad you asked. The fundraiser started by Brand White has been removed from GoFundMe, for reasons entirely unclear to us. Here’s an archived copy.
It fell about $500 short of its $1500 goal before it was taken down, making its removal that much more suspect. Could it be genuine? Of course it could. We may never know now that it’s gone.
If anyone knows anything, get in touch!
