Fundraiser for Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther explodes by the minute after she is jailed for refusing to close her business

A GoFundMe page for Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther has received more than a quarter-million dollars in donations.

What's a brief history on this?

On Tuesday, a state district judge sentenced Luther to seven days in jail and handed down a $7,000 fine after she refused to close her beauty salon. Calling her "selfish," the judge said that she could avoid jail time if she apologized and closed the salon until Friday when the governor's order is lifted.

Luther told the judge, however, that she would not apologize for keeping the salon open during the COVID-19 pandemic, and reasoned that she needed a way to feed and support her children.

"I have much respect for this court and laws," she told the judge on Tuesday. "I have never been in this position before and it's not some place that I want to be. But I have to disagree with you, sir, when you say that I'm selfish — because feeding my kids is not selfish."

She continued, "I have hair stylists that are going hungry because they'd rather feed their kids. So sir, if you think the law is more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with your decision, but I am not going to shut the salon."

By remaining open, the judge said, Luther violated city, county, and state government mandates.

Salon A La Mode Owner, Shelley Luther Arrested: 'Feeding My Kids Isn't Selfish, I'm Not Closing Thewww.youtube.com

What about the fundraiser?

At the time of this writing, the GoFundMe page has receive more than $336,000 and is rapidly continuing to climb by the minute.

The page reads:

Shelley Luther is an American Hero that has decided to resist tyranny by opening her business against an unlawful State Executive Order. Her business, SALON A LA MODE offers services for hair and nails, microblading, permanent makeup, professional event makeup, braiding and more! Shelley and her team will likely face legal action, fines, and more during her journey back to freedom. She is doing what everyone else is only talking about, in a patriotic move to take back her liberty! Please support Shelley, and her employees by contributing to this worthy cause. You will not just be supporting Shelley, but you will be supporting the idea that our founders put in writing in the Constitution. 100% of all donations will go directly to Shelley Luther.

The page's organizer, Rick Hire, said that Luther was remanded to jail on Tuesday.

He wrote, "Tons of people want to be sure that Shelley is getting the money. The way we setup the fund, Shelley is the sole beneficiary, and we only have an organizational role. Not only do we not have control over the money, we do not want that. This is a cause that we support and we need our hero to get every dollar."

Hire said that people can also donate to Luther's Dallas salon directly.

Hire promised that he will continue raising the fundraiser's goal. It currently has a goal of $500,000.

"When this case gets moved up to the federal levels, it will be one of the most expensive causes out there short of Hollywood criminal cases," Hire said. "We will let the donors decide and raise the goal accordingly. We get dozens of emails a day asking us to raise the goal, so the support is there. Just because salons are getting opened in a few days, this fight is long from over. They have awakened a sleeping giant and we need to fight that this may never happen again!"