TEXAS — What does Texas have to do with the Canadian truckers who have occupied parts of Ottawa and blocked border crossings in protest of COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates?

It’s tenuous, but it has prompted an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

What You Need To Know

  • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating GoFundMe after a campaign to fund Canadian truckers involved in a protest was removed

  • The campaign, which was removed following pressure by the Canadian government, had raised about $7.8 million

  • Paxton claims the removal may have violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act

  • The Biden administration on Thursday urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to use its federal powers to end the truck blockade

According to Paxton, the fundraising site GoFundMe removed a multimillion-dollar campaign designed to raise money for those truckers. Paxton said the removal may violate the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Canadian officials got GoFundMe to cut off funding after protest organizers used the site to raise about 10 million Canadian dollars ($7.8 million). GoFundMe determined that the fundraising effort violated the site’s terms of service because of unlawful activity.

“GoFundMe’s response to an anti-mandate, pro-liberty movement should ring alarm bells to anyone using the donation platform and, more broadly, any American wanting to protect their constitutional rights,” Paxton wrote in a news release announcing the investigation. “Many Texans donated to this worthy cause. I am acting to protect Texas consumers so that they know where their hard-earned money is going, rather than allowing GoFundMe to divert money to another cause without the consent of Texas citizens. I will get to the bottom of this deceitful action.” 

Meanwhile, the Biden administration on Thursday urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to use its federal powers to end the truck blockade. The protest has forced auto plants on both sides of the border to shut down or scale back production.

Scores of truckers taking part in what they dubbed the Freedom Convoy blocked the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, disrupting the flow of auto parts and other products between the two countries.

The White House said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with their Canadian counterparts and urged them to help resolve the standoff.

Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Royal Canadian Mounted Police reinforcements are being sent to Windsor, Ottawa and Coutts, Alberta where another border blockade is happening.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.