A recent data hack has shown some substantial donations made to the Freedom Convoy currently occupying Ottawa’s streets come from people located within Metro Vancouver.
The hack comes after a GoFundMe account that raised more than $10 million was shut down. Soon after, the convoy's organizers looked to GiveSendGo for their fundraising needs and have since raised $12 million on the platform as of this writing. Earlier this month the website was frozen when hackers accessed and released the names, email addresses and postal codes of thousands of donors to the cause.
In total, the data hack released information on 92,847 individual donations made between Feb. 1 to Feb 10. Of the $8,421,506.50 the campaign had reached when the hack occurred, donations from Canada made up nearly half ($4,310,787) with most other donations coming from the United States.
One of the largest donors with a postal code near Hastings Street in Vancouver wrote “Keep going folks. We're all behind you,” along with their $5,000 donation.
The largest single donation in Metro Vancouver came from an indoor gun range in Langley.
“‘Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety’,” the out-of-context Benjamin Franklin quote reads alongside the $18,000 donation.
Other donations come from a donor nicknamed Canuck Vancouver Bill who put forward $50. A $30 donation came from a West Vancouver renovation company while a North Shore home repair business wrote “We will unite to have freedom for all!” along with their $700 donation.
Over $25,000 was donated by 66 donors who identified themselves as living in Metro Vancouver but postal codes indicate there are hundreds more in the area.