Vice President Kamala Harris is facing questions after she helped free an alleged domestic abuser, George Howard, from prison three weeks ago — and cops say on Aug. 28, he murdered a woman during a road rage incident.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund, a no-questions-asked free bail fund that collected huge sums after the death of George Floyd, freed Howard on bail. The organization was highly promoted by Harris during the Black Lives Matter unrest in the summer of 2020.
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This isn’t the first such incident the group has faced. After the Minnesota Freedom Fund received more than $30 million in donations following Floyd’s death, thanks in part to social media shoutouts from notable names like Steve Carell, Seth Rogen, and Harris, it was criticized for not spending the windfall fast enough in 2020.
Some donors also objected to the fund bailing out federally detained illegal immigrants, and a local news station last summer reported the fund repeatedly used donations to free people charged with murder, sex crimes, and other violent offenses.
The bail fund posted $15,000 for the release of Shawn McClinton in Sep. 2020, a convicted sex offender facing rape charges. Prosecutors say McClinton raped a woman just weeks after his release.
He’s currently awaiting trial for charges of aggravated rape, kidnapping, strangulation, and more.
The organization also paid roughly $85,000 to bail out a man facing attempted murder charges, and has paid out tens of thousands of dollars more for the release of others, including a man accused of robbing five women and another facing three counts of child rape, The Boston Globe has reported.
A 2016 Massachusetts Trial Court study found over 6 percent of all people released pretrial through bail funds were later arraigned on new criminal charges while their case was pending.
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“We are aware of reports of the tragic and fatal shooting in Minneapolis earlier this week allegedly involving George Howard, an individual the Minnesota Freedom Fund had previously provided with bail support,” the group said in a statement Friday.
“MFF believes that every individual who has been arrested by the law enforcement is innocent until proven guilty, and if a judge deems them eligible for bail, they should not have to wait in jail simply because they don’t have the same income or access to resources as others,” the organization added.
Thanks, Kamala. pic.twitter.com/KjZ3f5h6ve
— ForAmerica (@ForAmerica) September 8, 2021
FLASHBACK: Kamala Harris is hiding, says… who!?
The Associated Press contributed to this article