Rodney Hinton Jr. and his family are fighting for his freedom, and that takes money. Oftentimes, the average person doesn’t have cash on hand to properly defend themselves in court. When said person is Black, the community is inclined to help them get the best opportunity to get fairness from an unfair system.
BOSSIP has been watching this case closely, partly because the circumstances surrounding the alleged murder of Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy Larry Henderson have brought about larger conversations about justice and the growing societal dissent. Hinton stands accused of fatally striking Deputy Henderson with his car the day after 18-year-old Ryan Hinton, Rodney’s son, was shot and killed the day prior by a Cincinnati Police Department officer. Although Deputy Henderson was not responsible for Ryan’s death, Hinton stands accused of essentially taking revenge against him out of anger.
According to WCPO, Deputy Henderson’s wife has filed a lawsuit against Hinton and his family for crowdfunding $100,000 and allegedly breaking Ohio public policy law. Lorena Henderson is accusing the family of “public status and notoriety gained solely through his criminal act of killing Deputy Henderson” and doing so has “caused extreme emotional distress”. The suit also claims that the crowdfunding effort is against the state policy that bans intentionally profiting from violent crimes.
“Through crowdfunding efforts, they have sought to profit from the very crime that took a devoted public servant from his loved ones, raising over $100,000 by leveraging the notoriety of this heinous act,” Zachary Gottesman, Henderson’s attorney, said in a statement. “This is not only a violation of Ohio’s public policy against profiting from criminal conduct but an affront to the principles of justice and decency.”
When news of the case first broke, thousands of dollars poured into sites like GoFundMe and were promptly removed after the company cited a policy that forbids funding for people charged with violent crimes. GiveSendGo, however, doesn’t have an anti-democracy policy that presumes guilt…
“Our platform exists to allow individuals to raise funds for personal needs, including legal defense and family support, especially in times of crisis. Every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and we believe people should have access to their communities during such moments. We aim to uphold that freedom — even in challenging and emotionally charged situations,”
Moreover, Hinton has not been convicted of any crime, and he has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Lorena Henderson can be mad all she wants, but Rodney Hinton Jr. deserves a fair trial like all people.
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