Suspicions about the case developed against the backdrop of Mississippi’s fraught history of racial violence, leading some to speculate whether race played a role in Wells’ death. Death threats from across the USSome of Wells’ friends who were with him that day and local officials have said they received threats against their lives. A deluge of donationsAs the animosity intensified, so did the outpouring of support from strangers toward Wells’ family and friends. A GoFundMe page that aimed to help Wells’ family with various expenses has garnered more than $830,000 in donations. And a GiveSendGo fundraiser has yielded more than $162,000 in donations to support Wells’ friends who “have been inundated with death threats, threats of violence, and defamation,” the organizer wrote.