Hollywood and music star Justin Timberlake has pledged financial support for protesters who have been arrested by police in recent days during riots sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody.
“Please join me in supporting the Minneapolis protesters by donating to the @mnfreedomfund,” Timberlake tweeted Sunday. “The freedom fund is combatting the harms of incarceration by paying bail for low income individuals who cannot otherwise afford.”
Sen. Ted Cruz thinks Timberlake’s money is best spent elsewhere.
“Justin, how about giving your millions to a fund to help the African-American and Hispanic small businesses that are being burned & looted rather than a fund to bail out the spoiled (often white) ANTIFA terrorists who are destroying minority communities?” Cruz tweeted in response.
Justin, how about giving your millions to a fund to help the African-American and Hispanic small businesses that are being burned & looted, rather than a fund to bail out the spoiled (often white) ANTIFA terrorists who are destroying minority communities? https://t.co/klWyoy4fwn
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 1, 2020
Roughly 4,000 people have been arrested since demonstrations broke out in major cities across the country in the wake of Floyd’s death.
Among the peaceful demonstrations, usually after dark, have been widespread looting, vandalism, and arson. Local police in dozens of cities have said they suspected people from outside their areas had infiltrated Black Lives Matter protests with the intent of being violent and causing further harm.
Over the weekend, Attorney General William Barr blamed some of the violence on antifa, a rising left-wing group responsible for similar rioting in American cities in recent years.
Several other celebrities have pledged to help bail arrested protesters out of jail, including Steve Carell and Seth Rogen.
