Chrissy Teigen donates $200,000 to support those who have been arrested for protesting death of George Floyd

Model increased donation by $100,000 after Twitter troll labelled protesters ‘criminals’

Chrissy Teigen at the Grammys on 26 January 2020. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Chrissy Teigen has donated $200,000 (£162,028) to help bail out people in the US who have been arrested for protesting the death of George Floyd.

On Monday 25 May, Mr Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis after a white officer knelt on his neck during an arrest.

In footage of the incident, Mr Floyd can be heard pleading for his life, saying: “I can’t breathe.”

Derek Chauvin, the police officer who pinned Mr Floyd down, has been arrested and charged with murder.

Protests have been ongoing across the US in the wake of Mr Floyd’s death.

On Saturday, Teigen tweeted that she would donate $100,000 (£81,000) to help bail out those who had been arrested during demonstrations.

The majority of people applauded the move, however, one person replied: “Wow, ‘celebrities’ paying money to encourage VIOLENCE and criminal behavior.”

Another person wrote: “Rioters and criminals*” to which Teigen replied: “Ooo they might need more money then. Make it $200,000.”

Teigen later shared a screenshot of her tweets on Instagram reiterating her support for the protesters.

“I stand with our heroes out there in support and solidarity. If you don’t know what else to do, every little bit helps,” she wrote.

“Please see my retweets for direct links. Silence is betrayal.”

Teigen’s post has been liked more than 745,000 times and received thousands of comments.

“Hero,” commented celebrity stylist Karla Welch, while the actor January Jones commented with several heart emojis.