Update: IndieGoGo representatives have confirmed that the site has pulled a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a former South Carolina police officer's legal defense fund.

The "Michael T. Slager Support Fund," which appeared at IndieGoGo after a similar campaign was pulled from the site GoFundMe, no longer exists, and its page was replaced on Friday by a generic 404 page with no explanation. In a statement to Ars Technica, IndieGoGo confirmed that the campaign "did not meet" the standards of the site's Trust and Safety Team.

The fundraising campaign, and its associated Facebook page, never contained any identifying information or clarification as to where any raised funds would be sent, and messages sent by Ars Technica to both pages' contact links were never answered. As of press time, the Facebook page hadn't been updated to reflect the IndieGoGo closure.

Original report:

Crowdfunding site GoFundMe has shuttered a campaign to raise money for the legal defense of Mike Slager, the South Carolina police officer who was charged with murder earlier this week.

Slager's arrest followed the release of a YouTube video on Tuesday that showed him firing a gun eight times at a man named Walter Scott who was running in the opposite direction. Shortly after the murder charges were confirmed, a "Support Michael Slager" Facebook page was created. It linked to a GoFundMe campaign that asked for donations for Slager's legal defense fund, but by Wednesday, the campaign had been taken down.

According to a ThinkProgress report, GoFundMe confirmed that the campaign violated the site's terms and conditions; while that statement didn't confirm which terms were violated, GoFundMe's rules page explicitly forbids "campaigns in defense of formal charges of heinous crimes."

By that morning, the heretofore unidentified operators of the Support Michael Slager campaign had launched an identical legal defense fundraising campaign at IndieGoGo. That site's terms do not forbid such fundraising campaigns, though the rules use vague language to forbid "scams," and the current campaign could fall into that category due to a lack of hard information that answers how any raised money will be used or where it will be sent.

According to statements made to Mashable, Slager will not be receiving legal defense support from South Carolina's Law Enforcement Officer's Association. The Support Michael Slager Facebook page has publicly stated that it does not "support any criminal activity" and that it is instead "lobbying for competent council and a fair trial." Their fundraising campaign has, as of press time, raised nearly $1,100.

IndieGoGo did not answer Ars' questions about the fundraiser, but said in a statement that "we don’t judge the content of campaigns as long as they are in compliance with our Terms of Use." The administrator of the Support Michael Slager Facebook page didn't respond to questions about his/her identity, and how any raised money will be distributed or spent.