GoFundMe Samaritan Wants Facebook Video Victim to Know Good People Are Out There

When Razor Sheldon watched the brutal Facebook video of an 18-year-old, mentally challenged, Crystal Lake man allegedly held hostage and by four African-American adults, he was horrified by what he witnessed.

But unlike many of the viewers who saw the cruel acts in the video, Sheldon used that revulsion to fuel an act of kindness and generosity for a victim and his family who he had never met.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before the perpetrators were caught, so my attention shifted to the victim and how he must be doing," Sheldon, a San Francisco resident, told Patch in an email interview. "I thought about the community I had founded full of like-minded, compassionate people that enjoy positive, feel-good news stories, and figured it would be great to rally some of them to show the victim there were good people out there that cared about him and established the GoFundMe campaign as a result."

That community Sheldon had founded is the Uplifting New subreddit on the social media and news platform Reddit. He used that online forum to help jumpstart the fundraising campaign he set up Jan. 5 through a GoFundMe page he titled "Let's Show the Chicago Victim Love."

So far, more than 5,300 people have donated nearly $160,000 to help the victim and his family. That total well surpasses the campaign's original goal of $10,000.

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"The size of the fund is way beyond anything I imagined, and it has been heartwarming to see the outpouring of support from around the globe to help [the victim] both financially and emotionally with so many kind words, thoughts and prayers," said Sheldon, who added that it's been "extremely gratifying" to see all the messages of encouragement and advice for the family.

"The fundraiser for [the victim] was originally intended to try to raise a few thousand dollars to show him and his family that there are others out there that care and to give these people an outlet and a means to be able to help," he added.

Earlier this week, Neal Strom, a lawyer and family friend who has been representing the family since the incident came to light, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the money from the GoFundMe campaign would be going toward the victim's treatment for the attack, as well as his continuing mental health care:

"It will be 100 percent devoted to providing for him, with things he’s never really had, enough resources to counsel and properly diagnose and treat his mental state. The family is not well-off at all. They have very, very modest means. Anything in this account will be judiciously used to get this young man the help that he needs."

Sheldon says he has relinquished control of the GoFundMe campaign to the victim's sister, who will be putting the donations in a trust and creating a bank account for it.

Fundraising for people in need is not a new thing for Sheldon, nor is using the power of the Uplifting News subreddit — an online community that describes itself as being a place for "uplifting, inspirational, feel good news stories from around the globe" — to help those efforts. In the past, he has organized a campaign to help a man repair his truck after he cut it open to save a kitten, as well as lead an effort to help popular comic book creator Karl Kesel, who was struggling financially and was being forced to sell off his comic book collection.

Usually, Sheldon — who says he tries to keep much of personal background, such as his occupation and age, private — creates these campaigns first, then reaches out to the people in need. In the case of the Chicago Facebook video incident, the family contacted Sheldon very soon after he created the GoFundMe page.

"[T]his fundraiser was so successful so quickly, multiple family members reached out directly to me before I had a chance to touch base with a reporter, so they were involved early on and were very appreciative," he said.

For the most part, Sheldon has been in contact with the victim's sister and her husband, David Boyd, who spoke for the family at a press conference last week. But he doesn't forsee the relationship ending when the campaign does.

"I plan to keep in touch with them and check in to see how [the victim] and they are doing," Sheldon said. "It is also nice to hear about some of the letters and gifts [the victim] has been receiving outside of the fundraiser."

To donate, go to Razor Sheldon's GoFundMe page.

Footage from a second video that has surfaced in the case alleging a mentally disabled man was kidnapped and tormented by several young African-American adults. (Screenshot via YouTube video)

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