The family of Karmelo Anthony, the Texas teen accused of fatally stabbing a fellow 17-year-old student athlete, will dip into the $433,000 raised in a controversial  online fundraiser to purchase a new house and security detail, the suspect’s father said on Monday.

Mr. Anthony, who was arrested on April 2 after he fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf, also 17 and a junior at Memorial High School, during a track meet last week, was released on bail on Monday. The bond, which was originally set at $1 million, was reduced to $250,000. Mr. Anthony, who has been  charged with murder in Metcalf’s death, claims he acted in self-defense and has pleaded not guilty.

The terms of his bail require that he stay at home and wear an ankle monitor. 

The racially charged case – Mr. Anthony is black and Metcalf was white – has led to warring words between the two camps.. Mr. Anthony’s homecoming has been met with fierce criticism by some conservative commentators who claim the case would be being handled very differently – by law enforcement and the media – if the races of the two teens were reversed.. “Karmelo Anthony brutally murdered Austin Metcalf, and the support for him in the black community is growing,” wrote political pundit, Charlie Kirk, on X. “Murdering a white kid in cold blood seems acceptable to some.” 

Co-chair of the Republican Party youth advisory council, CJ Pearson, who is black, questioned why Mr. Anthony — who “murdered a young man in cold blood” — is somehow “walking the streets of Texas a free man,” he wrote on X. Mr. Pearson then called on his followers to “imagine if he were white and the victim was black,” predicting that “BLM would be burning down whole cities.” He added: “This is a DISGRACE. Black or not, I REFUSE to defend this or him.” 

Mr. Anthony’s family divulged their plans for spending the six-figure donation sum during Monday’s hearing when prosecutors asked Mr. Anthony’s father why he couldn’t use the money to pay for his son’s original, million dollar bond (to post bond, defendants typically only need to put up a small percentage). 

Andrew Anthony responded by explaining that the money would be split between the costs of his son’s legal defense, security protection, and a new home for the family, the Sun reported. Mr. Anthony’s defense attorneys added that the raised money “is not a bond fund” and that “security details and criminal defense are not cheap.”

 Mr. Anthony’s lawyers had urged prosecutors to lower the $1 million bail given that their client “has no prior criminal history” nor has he “been in any sort of trouble before.” 

 Mr. Anthony’s supporters claim that he’s the victim of a gang-up and harsh charges in part to his race. The reduction in bail is a victory for the Anthony camp.

The Anthony family claims they have been unable to leave their home after their address was leaked, prompting a barrage of “graphic and racist threats,” a spokesman for the family, Dominique Alexander, said during a press conference. Mr. Alexander reported that the family has been sent images of “Black children with knives stuck in their head.”

But the substantial funds raised for the family, via GiveSendGo, reflects an outpouring of support for Mr. Anthony’s family. The fund has raised $433,893, closing in on its $500,000 goal. 

The existence of the fundraising page was enough to spark controversy, and several GoFundMe campaigns that were set up for Mr. Anthony  had been deleted. The co-founder of GiveSendGo, a faith-based fundraising platform which hosts controversial campaigns that GoFundMe won’t allow, defended her decision to keep the page up. 

A GoFundMe was also started by Metcalf’s father, Jeff Metcalf, drawing more than $355,000 in donations, somewhat less than the funds raised for Mr. Anthony. The grieving parent wrote in the fundraiser that his son “was a bright young man with a great future ahead of him” whose “smile would light up the room.” Mr. Metcalf lamented that his son’s passion for football — which led him to be voted team MVP last season — was “unbelievable.” He added that Metcalf also was an honor student, having boasted a 4.0 GPA.

The deadly altercation occurred on April 2 when Metcalf asked Mr. Anthony, who went to a different high school,  to move from his place beneath a tent that was set up for Metcalf’s team. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, witnesses told investigators that  Mr. Anthony responded by reaching into his backpack and warning, “touch me and see what happens,” which prompted Metcalf to touch him, and Mr. Anthony to dare Metcalf to punch him. As Metcalf went to grab Mr. Anthony to move him, Mr. Anthony allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the chest. Metcalf’s twin, Hunter, said he tried to save his bleeding brother before he succumbed to his injuries in his arms. 

Mr. Anthony’s lawyers are claiming that the 17-year old was acting in self defense. Outside of the courthouse on Monday, Mr. Anthony’s attorney, Mike Howard, insisted that “there are two sides to every story,” and that “self-defense is a protection that applies to each and every one of us.” 

“Karmelo is a 17-year-old kid and an excellent student. He is the captain of his track team and the captain of his football team. This is a tragedy all the way around for both families,” Mr. Howard stated.