Internet against police lawlessness: 70 thousand dollars were collected for the injured street vendor
The policeman fined the street vendor for lack of a license and took all the money from his wallet. They stood up for the merchant on social networks and collected more than 70 thousand dollars to help him.
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Martin Flores came to Berkeley Stadium, California, with his family to watch a football match and witnessed the incident. He filmed the incident on video. On the recording, it is heard that Flores was arguing with a policeman. "Are you going to take his money? This is wrong," Flores said. "We will give it to the judge, and he will decide whether it is right. He doesn't have a permit to trade," said police officer Sean Aranas.
Witnesses of the incident said that there were four other street vendors in that place. The police gave three of them a verbal warning for lack of a license, and only the hot dog dealer Beto was issued a fine.
The video that Flores posted on his Facebook page immediately went viral on social networks, many criticized the activities of the officer, who, in their opinion, went too far. Social media users said that the fine is a fair punishment, but taking the seller's money is too much.
In an interview with NBC, Beto said that he has a permanent job, and he sold hot dogs to earn some extra money. "People saw that I didn't do anything,— Beto said. "I didn't steal or drink, I just worked to feed my family."
Flores did not limit himself to a Facebook post and created a GoFundMe page to help the street vendor. In a few days, users collected more than 70 thousand dollars, although the goal was to collect 10 thousand. Flores said the money would go to pay off Beto's fine, get a trade permit, and the rest to help the same street vendors.