How bail funds give Americans a voice against police brutality

Donations allow people to protest who would otherwise be denied a voice by the US's unequal system of cash bail.

TOPSHOT - People are arrested in Hollywood, California, June 1, 2020 as a third night of curfews followed days of massive, mostly peaceful protests to decry George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, as well as looting. - Most arrests were related to alleged looting. Major US cities -- convulsed by protests, clashes with police and looting since the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd a week ago -- braced Monday for another night of unrest. More than 40 cities have imposed curfews after consecutive nights of tension that included looting and the trashing of parked cars. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

“Match me if you can”: from last Thursday, this phrase was all over Twitter, encouraging people around the world to send money to help those who had been arrested while protesting the police killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, in Minneapolis on 25 May. In four days, the Minnesota Freedom Fund had received so much money – more than $20 million – that it asked for donations to be redirected to other community organisations. They had enough money, for the time being, to bail people out.

As the protests spread, links to other bail funds started appearing across social media. Last Friday, Zoë Adel, advocacy and communications manager at the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, saw a link to her group’s page on Twitter. “Very quickly — within 24 hours — that turned into 50,000 people donating,” she says. The Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, too, eventually asked that donations be directed elsewhere; its need had been met, and it wanted to make sure support was spread.