In the early days of the George Floyd riots, the Minnesota Freedom Fund became one of the go-to causes—along with well-known political advocacy groups like Black Lives Matter—to be promoted by leftists on social media.
It gained particular legitimacy after Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., the soon-to-be vice president, tweeted out a link to direct supporters to it.
If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota. https://t.co/t8LXowKIbw
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 1, 2020
But the group’s mission—bailing out violent protestors, looters and vandals during anti-police demonstrations—proved to be less than noble.
Among those it has bailed out was at least one extremely violent and dangerous criminal, reported Just the News.
Initially founded in 2016, MNFF also includes an open-borders component to its advocacy, making it an enticing philanthropic cause célèbre for billionaire mega-donors who have bankrolled many of the subversive, anti-government efforts on the Left.
However, the recent riots, which began in Minneapolis and spread elsewhere throughout the country, helped it to take in tens of millions of dollars in 2020, as compared to only around $100,000 in 2018.
Among the beneficiaries of that windfall, according to Just the News:
- an individual with multiple rape convictions
- an individual who allegedly shot at police during Minnesota riots
- a woman accused of killing a friend
Because there is nothing at stake for these alleged felons, there is little impetus for them to honor the bail agreement—as is the purpose of putting money on the line to ensure a return to trial.
As a result, many have since become untraceable, and the organization has refused to cooperate with efforts to provide more transparency.
Reporters from conventional media outlets, as well as conservative media, noted that the opaque process of finding records in Minnesota’s Hennepin and Ramsey counties made it virtually impossible to track.
A record of those released “is difficult to find and it is not available online,” said KMSP reporter Tom Lyden. “You must go through items in the file, which you can only do at a live terminal.”
While Lyden was able to find a document tracking those bailed out by a third party, it was unclear whether MNFF was involved.
“In the rundown of court filings, it is usually listed as an ‘Other,’ along with many other items, so you have to go into each file to find it,” Lyden said.
“If there is such a document,” he continued. “In some cases, the defendant may get to keep the money, and in other cases I’ve been told it wasn’t necessary.”
Nonetheless, MNFF did not respond to repeated media inquiries asking if it maintained a list of those it bailed out.
The group claims its objective is to promote freedom.
“[W]e believe that wealth should never determine who is kept in jail,” says its posted mission statement.
“That’s what the money bail system does,” the statement continued. “It puts a price on freedom that only a few can afford and many cannot.”
But instead of improving or reforming the justice system, it is seeking to eradicate bail altogether and promote “decarceration.”
Since attempting to implement a “defund the police” agenda, Minneapolis has seen skyrocketing crime that has taken a particularly harsh toll on the same vulnerable communities MNFF claims to be protecting.
But still, the effort seems to be spreading.
George Gascón, the George Soros-backed district attorney newly elected in Los Angeles, has declared his support for similar measures in one of the nation’s largest urban regions.
The goal may be to drive people out of cities—which Democrats have historically populated in clusters—and to increase their base of influence to traditionally red regions by making cities undesirable.
It coincides with a coronavirus-related push for more remote job opportunities, with companies such as San Francisco-based Twitter already announcing their intention to make the change permanent.
For example, the recent runoff election in Georgia, which allowed to radically leftist Democrats to deliver a majority to the upper chamber and a legislative carte blanche to the Biden administration, has largely been attributed to demographic shifts propelled by growth in Atlanta.
