The co-founder of the crowd-funding site that has raised over half a million dollars for killer teen Karmelo Anthony said he is not proud of company’s role in the controversy while maintaining support for it. 

Jacob Wells, whose platform GiveSendGo is the only fundraising site permitting donations for Anthony, gave a wavering response when grilled over the $515,000 the campaign has gathered for the confessed killer.

‘I have no pride in having this being on GiveSendGo. I just have appreciation for what GiveSendGo is doing in the midst of these tragic moments,’ he told Fox News. 

‘Which is standing on principle, which is loving people even in the midst of very hard and dark places.’ 

Other crowd-funding platforms like GoFundMe and Kickstarter have not allowed donations to Anthony, as he faces charges over the fatal stabbing of Texas teenager Austin Metcalf at a track meet in Frisco in the Dallas-Forth Worth area on April 2. 

Anthony, 17, claimed he acted in self-defense during a fight that began when the high school student went to sit under a rival school’s tent.

Metcalf,  also 17 and a student at the opposing school, confronted Anthony and the pair started arguing before the deadly stabbing.  

The case has sparked national outrage as many question why Anthony brought a knife to the track meet, while his supporters claim racism was a factor. 

Jacob Wells, whose platform GiveSendGo is the only fundraising site allowing donations to killer teen Karmelo Anthony, said he is not proud of hosting the campaign

Karmelo Anthony’s fundraiser has received over $515,000, with his family facing scrutiny over using funds for his legal defense to move into a new home and hire security guards 

Austin Metcalf, 17, died after being stabbed by Anthony at a track meet on April 2

The GiveSendGo fundraiser had reached more than $515,600 as of Wednesday morning. Anthony’s family has faced scrutiny for using funds for his legal defense to move into a new home and hire security guards. 

Asked about the flood of donations to , Wells admitted to Fox News: ‘How proud am I of this campaign? I don’t, I wouldn’t say I’m proud at all.’ 

Still, Wells said that the campaign does not violate his site’s terms. 

He said the company has only removed fundraisers for causes it deems ‘illegal,’ including those caught spending funds on expenses not made clear on the site. 

Wells said he has taken down a page that was purportedly raising money for travel expenses when the host actually intended to use the money to buy a gun. 

Wells added that ‘pretty much’ everyone on GiveSendGo’s leadership team supported hosting the campaign.

He compared the controversy to his previous decision in 2020 to allow a fundraiser for Kyle Rittenhouse, the Wisconsin teen who shot three people during Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha. 

The site also hosted a fundraiser for Daniel Penny, who was acquitted on charges in the 2023 death of subway rider Jordan Neely.

Rittenhouse’s campaign raised over $250,000, less than half of what Anthony has received in the weeks since he stabbed Metcalf. 

The fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf has sparked national outrage as many question why Anthony brought a knife to the track meet, while his supporters claim racism was a factor

Anthony is facing first-degree murder charges, but his attorneys argue he acted in self-defense

Wells said he and his colleagues have received death threats over hosting the campaign, with the teen killer’s family saying they needed to use the money to hire security because they have also faced death threats. 

The co-founder said while he is content to continue keeping the campaign alive, he admitted that some people are donating for the ‘wrong reasons.’ 

Some comments on the fundraising page call for attacks on white people and celebrate Anthony stabbing Metcalf ‘even if it was for no reason at all,’ which Wells blamed on ‘right-wing outrage.’ 

‘The outrage of the right has fueled the response of the other side,’ he said. 

‘There will always be people who are donating for the wrong reasons, on any campaign. There are people that believe the best way forward is racial division.

‘That’s what they believe. So they’re going to stoke the flames of racial division however they can. 

‘When you live in free societies, which we do, there’s a price to pay, and that is it allows for some people to do things that might not be good. And I think people do that all the time.’ 

When asked about the claims of racism that have arisen in Anthony’s case, Wells continued: ‘When someone is championing a racial narrative that is divisive and not unifying, then I would claim that that’s a wrong reason to be donating. 

Anthony’s family (pictured) said they were forced to move to a new home in an ‘undisclosed location’ due to threats they have received

Anthony (pictured in his mugshot) is free on house arrest after his bail was significantly lowered earlier this month 

After being stabbed, Metcalf died in the arms of his twin brother, Hunter (pictured: Austin and Hunter) 

‘And there are people that have donated that are making claims that are divisive and not unifying. And those are in some of the comments. 

‘Unfortunately, in free societies, people can say stuff that is divisive and not unifying.’ 

The comments came as Anthony’s family said they were forced to move to a new home in an ‘undisclosed location’ due to threats they have received. 

Anthony is out on house arrest after his bond was reduced from $1 million to $250,000. He is facing first-degree murder charges.