Vice President Kamala Harris promoted the Minnesota Freedom Fund, an organization that has since used donor contributions to bail out violent criminals, in a May 2020 blog post.
Harris encouraged her readers to help “the protestors on the front lines” of the riots following the death of George Floyd by donating to the Minnesota Freedom Fund in the blog post, first reported by the Washington Examiner. The Minnesota Freedom Fund went on to bail out multiple convicted murderers and other violent criminals in the years following the riots, according to court records.
“Today, in solidarity with those protesting, I am asking for your help if you are able,” Harris wrote in her 2020 blog post. “Will you make a contribution to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, an organization working on the ground in Minnesota to post bail for arrested protestors?” (RELATED: Harris Wanted To End Cash Bail And Reduce Penalties For Criminals)
Protestors in Minneapolis burned down or otherwise damaged over 1,500 locations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, causing an estimated $550 million in damages, according to the Star Tribune. Two people died during the riots, and law enforcement arrested 604 people between May 27 and June 2, Buzzfeed News reported.
Oregon Police wearing anti-riot gear march towards protestors through tear gas smoke during the 100th day and night of protests against racism and police brutality in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Allison Dinner / AFP) (Photo by ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)
“Kamala Harris raised money for rioters while Minneapolis burned,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, told the Examiner. “Her fundraising efforts helped free murderers and rapists. She should be ashamed and apologize for this, but she won’t because she loves criminals.”
Among those the Minnesota Freedom Fund bailed out was Shawn Michael Tillman, who was sentenced to life in prison this March after shooting and killing a man at a rail station in St. Paul in 2022. George Howard, also once freed by the Harris-backed bail fund, pleaded guilty in 2023 to killing a man in a 2021 road rage incident in Minneapolis.
Both men were freed after Harris promoted the bail fund, but not for crimes related to the riots. Thomas Moseley, one rioter freed by the Minnesota Freedom Fund, was later arrested for possession of multiple drugs while also possessing a firearm.
The fund also freed Christopher Boswell, a twice-convicted rapist, and Darnika Floyd, who was sentenced to prison after stabbing a man to death for not having sex with her.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund has declined having a relationship with Harris, telling CBS News in July that “we have no relationship with Harris beyond a single four-year-old tweet,” neglecting to mention the blog post.
Before Harris and other influential individuals threw their support behind the Minnesota Freedom Fund, the nonprofit was only bringing in tens of thousands of dollars a year, according to tax filings. After the wave of support that came following the death of Floyd, the bail fund raised over $34 million in 2020.
“These protests will continue until those who murdered George Floyd are held accountable,” Harris wrote in her blog post. “So until then, the protestors on the front lines need our help.”
Harris’ campaign has leaned on the vice president’s experience as a California prosecutor, with one campaign ad touting her record of prosecuting border gangs. Many of Harris’ major donors, however, have supported district attorneys who have declined to prosecute crimes.
Alex and George Soros, for instance, have both thrown their support behind Harris. The elder Soros is the self-admitted architect of a plan to elect “reform” prosecutors across the country, many of whom stopped prosecuting what they determined to be minor crimes.
The vice president previously supported ending cash bail and reducing penalties for some criminals, according to a memo from her 2020 presidential campaign.
The Harris campaign and the Minnesota Freedom Fund did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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