Guy Raises $46,000 to Annoy University of Pennsylvania Protesters

University of Pennsylvania protesters, who were targeted by a GoFundMe campaign threatening to pay a mariachi band to play next to the protest 24 hours a day. (Getty Images)

While riot police have moved in on protests on other college campuses across the country, Penn is still trying to figure out what to do with its now two-week-old protest encampment. There, opponents of the war in Gaza hold up signs. And they use a megaphone to get their message out. Well, Penn might not know exactly how to solve this dilemma, though the school has stepped up its response a bit this week. But one person who says he’s a Penn student came up with an idea that’s certainly original.

A person by the name of Rob Martinez organized a crowdfunding campaign on the GoFundMe platform. His goal? Maybe to raise money to provide humanitarian relief to people in Gaza? Nah. Evacuate family members from Gaza, as this Philadelphia GoFundMe campaign is working to do? Nah. He said he wanted to hire a mariachi band to play next to the encampment all day and night.

Now, music has long been a part of protest movements, and, indeed, there have been drummers and other musicians participating in the University of Pennsylvania encampment. But Martinez wasn’t going to use the mariachi band to join the protest. He was going to use the mariachi band essentially to protest the protest.

On the GoFundMe campaign page, Martinez explained that “these protesters should be serenaded for their efforts, just as they have constantly serenaded my efforts to study for finals with a megaphone and drum set.” He said he would spend the money raised to hire a mariachi band to play continuously until all funds were depleted.

I’ve seen so many worthy GoFundMe campaigns not get the kind of support you’d think they would. The GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral costs for a man killed in a hit-and-run in Kensington the other day has a goal of $10,000 but is only up to $3,136. A local woman trying to get help to pay for her dog’s critical surgery has only raised $225. Someone in Philly in a bad predicament needs $10,000 to save her home but so far has received just $325. But launch a GoFundMe to hire a mariachi band to play 24/7 next to a protest encampment, and you can raise $46,657.

A screenshot of the GoFundMe campaign to annoying the University of Pennsylvania protesters using a constantly-playing mariachi band

That’s right. Over the course of a week, Martinez raised $46,657 for his “cause.” That would probably cover about 120 hours of round-the-clock performance by a mariachi band.

Alas, there will be no mariachi band, which is a shame, since we kind of like mariachi music. (Though I guess 24/7 of any music could become burdensome.) After receiving unprecedented support, Martinez called the whole thing off. A GoFundMe spokesperson told me that the platform would refund all donors at Martinez’s request.

“As much as I tried to bring this event to fruition, I am only one student,” Martinez explained to me on Thursday afternoon. “It grew to a scale that I could not handle all by myself … Between getting permits, bands … And [figuring out] how to safely put this event on … It just became too much for me to handle in one week.”

Hopefully his finals are going okay.