US News

Professor allegedly misused $120K of funds raised in Philando Castile’s name

A former Minnesota professor who raised money in the name of a man shot by a police officer in 2016 donated less than half of the funds intended to feed hungry kids, authorities said.

Pamela Fergus, a former professor at Metropolitan State University, did not properly spend $120,000 of the $200,000 she raised in Philando Castile’s name to pay off student lunch debts for Saint Paul Public Schools students, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Thursday.

“Philando Castile cared deeply about the children he served, and the children loved him back,” Ellison said. “Raising money supposedly to serve those children, then not doing so, is an insult to Philando’s legacy and all who loved him.”

Castile, a 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in July 2016. The aftermath of the shooting was livestreamed by the man’s girlfriend, who claimed a St. Anthony cop shot him for “no apparent reason.”

Minnesota's attorney general says St. Paul professor Pamela Fergus who led a campaign to pay off student lunch debts in Philando Castile’s name spent less than half of the $200,000 she raised on the intended purpose.
Minnesota’s attorney general says St. Paul professor Pamela Fergus, who led a campaign to pay off student lunch debts in Philando Castile’s name, spent less than half of the $200,000 she raised on the intended purpose. ag.state.mn.us

Officer Jeronimo Yanez was later charged with second-degree manslaughter in Castile’s death.

His attorney claimed the cop was reacting to the presence of a gun during the encounter and Yanez was ultimately acquitted, setting off days of several protests that reportedly led to roughly 50 arrests and 20 injured officers.

Ellison said he filed a civil enforcement action against Fergus regarding her “Philando Feeds the Children” campaign as a last resort after she failed to work with his office on the missing funds.

The fundraising effort started in 2017, with the then-professor setting up a YouCaring website that garnered at least $200,774 in donations through May 2018 that she allegedly deposited into her personal checking account.

A total of $120,738 remains unaccounted for, Ellison said.

Fergus initially set a $5,000 fundraising goal, but the drive soon rocketed well beyond that, the Star Tribune reported.

A probe into Fergus stemmed from a tip from Philando’s mother, Valerie Castile, who said she got no answers when asked how the funds were being doled out.

Philando Castile
A tip from Philando Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, led to the investigation into Fergus. Facebook

“Unmistakably, throughout decades people have capitalized on people’s grief and pain and suffering,” Castile told the Star Tribune on Thursday.

Fergus’ drive attracted national media attention at the time. She told the Washington Post in October 2017 that she hoped to transform her effort into an official charity.

“I don’t think there’s an end in sight,” Fergus told the newspaper. “I want a million dollars in that account. That’s my goal. I want a million dollars.”

Fergus could not be reached for comment Thursday, the Star Tribune reported. A spokeswoman for Metropolitan State University told the newspaper she was no longer employed there.