Brian Kolfage

rdf:langString Brian Kolfage

rdf:langString Brian Kolfage

rdf:langString Brian Kolfage

rdf:langString Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

rdf:langString Pled guilty

rdf:langString University of Arizona

rdf:langString Pleading Guilty to federal wire fraud conspiracy and tax charges as Founder of We Build the Wall.

rdf:langString Republican

rdf:langString Ashley Kolfage

rdf:langString Brian Kolfage is a veteran of the United States Air Force and the founder of the organization We Build the Wall, which began construction of a privately funded barrier on the U.S.–Mexico border after raising more than $25 million through GoFundMe donations. Kolfage is a triple amputee who suffered injuries while serving in Iraq with the U.S. Air Force. In December 2018, Kolfage initiated a fundraising campaign ostensibly for U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed Mexico–United States barrier on GoFundMe under the organizational title of "We Build the Wall, Inc." Over the 2019 Memorial Day weekend, the organization constructed a .5-to-1-mile (0.80 to 1.61 km) "weathered steel" bollard fence near El Paso on private land adjoining the U.S.–Mexico border using $6–8 million of the donated funds. The organization ultimately raised $25 million, much of it from online crowdfunding. It claimed that it planned to construct further barriers on private lands adjoining the border with Mexico in Texas and California. In August 2020, Kolfage was indicted, along with Steve Bannon and two other co-defendants, on federal charges of defrauding hundreds of thousands of "We Build the Wall" donors by diverting money that was raised to personal use. Federal prosecutors said that despite "repeatedly assuring donors" that Kolfage would not be paid, the defendants engaged in a scheme to divert $350,000 to Kolfage, "which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle." Kolfage was separately indicted in May 2021 on federal charges of defrauding the IRS and filing false tax returns.

rdf:langString America First