Vice reporter Justin Caffier set up, and then deleted, a GoFundMe fundraiser for journalist Erik Abriss, who was fired from INE Entertainment this week after he declared that he wanted the pro-Trump Covington Catholic students “to die,” along with their parents.
“I just want these people to die. Simple as that. Every single one of them. And their parents,” Abriss expressed, before being fired.
“We were surprised and upset to see the inflammatory and offensive rhetoric used on Erik Abriss’ Twitter account this weekend. He worked with the company in our post-production department and never as a writer,” INE Entertainment told the Wrap on Monday. “While we appreciated his work, it is clear that he is no longer aligned with our company’s core values of respect and tolerance. Therefore, as of January 21, 2019, we have severed ties with Abriss.”
In response to Abriss’ dismissal, Vice reporter Justin Caffier set up a GoFundMe fundraiser titled, “Support Erik Abriss, not the racist MAGA teens.”
“After watching the awful video of Covington Catholic students menacing Native American Elder and Vietnam vet Nathan Phillips, Erik Abriss, in the heat of rage, tweeted his hopes for the racist teens and their enabling racist families to die,” declared Caffier in the fundraiser, which appeared to be linked to his Facebook account. “He didn’t call for actual violence, just expressed his frustration about smug white supremacists and his desire for the world to be rid of them poorly.”
“For this, the right launched a bad faith campaign against his 30 liked tweet to get him fired. They succeeded. This gofundme is to help Erik out in the interim while he finds his next job,” Caffier continued. “No subsequent videos have exonerated the Covington Catholic kids. Some even show how much worse they are. But they’re going to the white house and Erik needs to find a new job. Don’t let them martyr him.”
The fundraiser received one donation of $5 before it was later removed.
Caffier confirmed to Breitbart Tech that he had created the fundraiser, explaining, “I made it in haste to help a friend but took it down at Erik’s request. He had nothing to do with it and it was up for all of 2 hours.”
In one post on Twitter, Caffier expressed, “I hope all the MAGA kids visiting the White House somehow catch Trump’s syphilis.”
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.