Following a protest in early June, a black police officer filed a complaint against a young woman who insulted him. The woman began a fundraising campaign to cover her legal fees on various crowdfounding sites, but the money already collected - over 3,500 euros - will be returned to the donors. The woman has signalled that she will take additional steps.

The story began on 2 June, when a well-known young black female influencer nicknamed Nadjélika publicly humiliated a black policeman, calling him a traitor out loud during a protest organised by the family of Adama Traore, who died in 2016 in police custody. The woman who began shouting at the officer that he should be ashamed was later joined by a black man standing next to her, and soon the whole crowed had turned against the officer and began chanting the word traitor, accusing him of serving the current establishment despite being black. 

Reacting to the incident French police have issued a statement saying there is no racial discrimination within French law enforcement agencies, and Paris Police chief Didier Lallement has also ensured the humiliated officer of his support.

Following the ordeal, the publicly insulted officer has lodged a complaint so Nadjélika will face court proceedings. As legal fees tend to run high, she figured that she would launch an online fundraising campaign with two crowdsourcing sites joining the initiative. People kept donating and the influencer s initiative was also backed by the Adama Traore Committee, making a huge promotion campaign. Thanks to these concerted efforts, Leetchi has managed to amass more than 3500 euros, according to the French conservative Valeurs actuelles newspaper. 

Nadjelika s joy, however, proved rather premature when she received a message from a Leetchi employee, saying she was not entitled to the collected donations under the company s rules because she had violated the general terms of use. Leetchi s rules prohibit both direct and indirect discrimination or hate campaigns against a person or groups because of their origin, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nation, or region.

And Nadjélika did exactly that: she insulted a black policeman, suggesting he should be ashamed of working for the police despite the colour of his skin.

In its message, Leetchi also informed Nadjelika that the firm will refund the money received from nearly 300 donors within five days.

Many have expressed their disapproval over Nadjelika s fundraising initiative. In response, the influencer took to social media and complained that she is being attacked for collecting donations while she is the one exposed to harassment because her identity was revealed.

She continued her litany of complaints on Twitter lambasting those who have criticised her, and she even disclosed her lawyer s exorbitant fee of 350 euros an hour.

In a tweet posted a few days after Leetchi s decision, the young woman says she does not consider the case to be closed. Describing Leetchi s decision as unfounded, she said the case will probably continue.