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Who is Jessica Reavis? GoFundMe slammed for letting 'neo-Confederate' set up $10K campaign for criminal case

Reavis belongs to the League of the South that the Southern Poverty Law Center labels a neo-Confederate hate group

For more than a year, Jessica Reavis, a member of the League of the South, a pro-Confederacy group, was using the crowdfunding site GoFundMe to raise money in order to pay the lawyer in her criminal case. She might not have gotten a lot but her goal was to raise $10,000 to appeal the conviction. 

Reavis was convicted for the misdemeanor of illegally carrying a firearm during a protest in North Carolina. It was then that she turned to GoFundMe to raise $10,000.

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Following the hue and cry on social media about Reavis' account, GoFundMe removed the fundraiser and reportedly also barred her from using the platform in the future. A social media user posted a screenshot of Reavis' deleted campaign page on the GoFundMe site with the words: "GFM took it down. Thanks everyone!"

A GoFundMe spokesperson told Daily Dot: "This fundraiser created by Jessica Reavis violates our terms of service and has been removed from the platform. She has also been banned from using the platform for future fundraisers.” The spokesperson added, "We have a zero-tolerance policy for spreading hate, discrimination, and intolerance of any kind and continue to enforce our terms of service".

Who is Jessica Reaves?

Reavis reportedly belongs to the League of the South, which describes itself as "a southern nationalist organization". The Southern Poverty Law Center labels it a "neo-Confederate hate group". She was arrested in Pittsboro on October 5, 2019,  and charged with carrying weapons at a parade while waving a Confederate flag at anti-racism protesters across the street.

The website for The League of the South shows that the group oppose immigration, glorifies the Confederacy, and advocates forming an autonomous, patriarchal, Christian society in former Confederate states. In addition that, the website includes content about the "Islamic invasion", "emasculated metrosexuals", blood purity, and Marxism. The League of the South also happens to be aggressively pro-gun.

Reavis is reportedly a national officer with the group and has even participated in many of its activities, such as their frequent "white pride" marches and in 2017, their 'Unite the Right' rally.

What did Jessica Reavis do?

According to the latest reports, Reavis was charged with the weapons violation at a protest over the removal of a Confederate monument.

On her GoFundMe plea page, Reavis claimed that she was fighting for Second Amendment rights and to expose judicial bias. The page was launched in March 2020 and in the last year, Reavis managed to raise $245, falling very short of her $10,000 campaign's goal amount.

It was after several Twitter users called out the fundraising site on social media that the charity platform noticed what was happening. "Hey @gofundme - this woman traveled to my town in North Carolina from Virginia with a loaded pistol intending to harm people who disagree with the ideals of SPLC-designated hate group League of the South, which wants a white ethnostate," tweeted one user, which has now been deleted. They added, "The "possession" she refers to is the Glock 9mm which was in her truck that she then retrieved and holstered on her person in the hopes she would get to murder one of the people opposing the LOS's demonstration in our town that day."

Soon enough, news of Reavis' GoFundMe account started circulating on Twitter. "After losing her concealed gun case in NC yesterday. Racist Jessica Reavis has taken to GoFundMe again to raise money. She claims to be collectin $10K for her appeal. Go tell GFM that a member of a SPLC designated hate group is using their platform to fund raise."

According to one user following the criminal case against Reavis, for which she was trying to get funds to pay her lawyer, has been decided. The user wrote: "Judge sentences Jessica Reavis to 45 days, suspended, & 12 months supervised probation, during which Reavis is instructed to pay court costs & not possess or control a firearm in North Carolina."