GoFundMe campaign for Marine vet attacked in DC raises major funds

A GoFundMe campaign for a Marine veteran attacked by a group of teens at a D.C. McDonald's has raised over $10,000.

The attack happened last Friday night at a McDonald's restaurant in D.C.'s Penn Quarter neighborhood. Chris Marquez, 30, said he was eating by himself in a back corner of the restaurant when a group of several young men and a young female approached his table and began harassing him.

"They were asking me if I believe that black lives mattered," Marquez told FOX 5. "They asked me that a few times and I was ignoring them at first because I felt they were intimidating me. They were being hostile. That's pretty much how they approached me and how they were talking to me and then they started calling me a racist."

Surveillance video released by police show Marquez hit from behind, robbed and kicked twice.

The GoFundMe campaign was created February 16 by Danny Amoruccio, who says he has no relation to Marquez and is just "a good American helping another."

The goal originally was to replace the $400 Marquez says was taken from his wallet. But that amount has grown much higher.

In a recent update on the page, Amoruccio thanked donors for their support and asked them to "do [their] part in this grassroots effort to spread [Marquez's] story."

"We chatted about it and he said that he would take care of his burdens, and whatever is left, he would definitely donate to charity," said Amoruccio.

Marquez said he would like use some of the money he gets as a reward for the cab driver who picked him up that night after he couldn't pay because his wallet was stolen. The problem right now is he doesn't know how to find that cab driver.

Marquez posted a video to the page with an update of his own, explaining his current condition and thanking Amoruccio for his help in organizing the campaign.

"I want to thank everyone who donated to this Go Fund account," he said. "Thank you America, you guys are awesome."