GoFundMe page for Alton Sterling’s children exceeds $648,000

A GoFundMe campaign dedicated to raising college funds for Alton Sterling’s family has raised more than $648,000 — far exceeding its goal of $200,000.

Actress Issa Rae launched the online fundraiser on Wednesday after a video capturing the Louisiana man’s final moments the day before sparked outrage. She said that some people feel helpless when these things happen, but that a scholarship fund for his children would be a small step forward.

Rae, who is known for her YouTube show “Awkward Black Girl,” said that the page raised $100,000 in just six hours. That figure doubled three hours later. As of Saturday morning, more than 22,000 people raised $648,310.

She said that all of the money would go to Sterling’s family so that his five children can pay for college.

The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a civil rights investigation into Sterling’s death. Early Tuesday morning, the 37-year-old father of five was selling CDs outside of the Triple S Food Mart convenience store in Baton Rouge, La. As can be seen in witness videos, two police officers tackled him to the ground and one shot him several times at point-blank range.

The Baton Rouge Police Department released a statement saying the officers were responding to a complaint about a black man wearing a red shirt who had threatened the complainant with a gun. As per standard procedure, both officers were placed on administrative leave.

Sterling’s death was one of several that revealed old wounds that many say have not fully healed in the United States. It reawakened a national conversation about the Black Lives Matter movement and policing in African-American communities.

A Minnesota police officer shot and killed another black man, Philando Castile, 32, on Wednesday during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul.

Then, on Thursday, a sniper killed five Dallas police officers (Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Michael Smith and Lorne Ahrens) and injured seven others.

Danny Amoruccio, a retired funeral director from Norwalk, Conn., also used GoFundMe to set up a “Support Dallas Police Memorial Fund” on Friday. By the following morning, it had raised $5,368 of its $100,000 goal. GoFundMe, he said, would vet a beneficiary from the Dallas Police Department to be in charge of distributing the money.

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