Kamala Harris helped a controversial bail fund rake in millions of dollars, which it spent on getting violent criminals back on the streets in the name of “social justice” — only for some of them to commit more crimes, including murder.
Among the freed criminals: A twice-convicted male sex-offender who went on to allegedly assault other women before his re-arrest and a man who left a victim with a traumatic brain injury after being sprung from jail while awaiting trial for another felony assault.
Following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police, which sparked riots across the country, the Minnesota Freedom Fund received endorsements and donations from several celebrities including Seth Rogan, Justin Timberlake and Cynthia Nixon.
Harris, then a California senator, also asked her supporters to donate in a June 2020 tweet.
“If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota,” Harris wrote.
The fund, started in 2016, raked in $41,655,560, according to its 2020 tax filings — a huge windfall compared to previous years when it took in between $100,000 and $230,000 in annual donations, according to public records.
The injection of capital allowed the group to go from spending $1,000 a day on bail to more than $100,000 to spring offenders, according to a report.
Crime watchdogs point out how big bail funds can undermine the system itself, and say Harris — herself a former prosecutor and District Attorney in California — should know better.
Hannah E. Meyers, an expert on policing at the Manhattan Institute, told The Post: “The value of the bail system is that it provides leverage, ensuring that someone charged with hurting the community doesn’t do it again before trial.
“For most people, the idea of losing their own money or the savings of their loved ones is a huge motivator for not re-offending. Bail funds scramble this dynamic, since — humans being what they are — nobody cares as much about losing strangers’ money.”
Meyers also noted bail is set at judges’ discretion, and should be made economically appropriate to the person in front of them. She also pointed out how those who have previously been convicted are much more likely to re-offend.
“Advocates for extreme bail reform often try to obscure these very different levels of risk between releasing serious, repeat offenders and low-level or first-time offenders.”
Since 2016, MFF has paid $21.2 million in cash bail and $4.8 million for immigration bonds, freeing 2,537 people from pre-trial detention and 463 from immigration detention, according to statistics on its web site.
A crime watchdog group in Minneapolis which monitors the fund’s bail initiatives and crime in the city called Harris’s actions endorsing the group “irresponsible.”
“It was ridiculous for Kamala Harris or any government official to promote an organization like Minnesota Freedom Fund, considering she didn’t make the tweet until June 1, well after it was clearly obvious that our city was being burned and looted by protesters,” said the director of the group who did not want to be identified because of safety concerns.
“The fact that Harris’s tweet still has not been deleted, nor has she denounced how irresponsible MFF has been in bailing out dangerous offenders, even after all the controversy and proof of harm that MFF has caused to Minnesota, is proof she cares more about criminals than law abiding citizens.”
When asked about the filings and the criticism leveled against their initiatives in bailing out sometimes violent criminals, the group told The Post Tuesday it is “a local non-profit led by a volunteer -based board.
“We received an unprecedented level of support following the murder of George Floyd, and we have used that support to advance our mission during the years since,” said Noble Frank, the group’s communications director.
Despite the huge influx of cash, MFF listed a loss of $6.7 million on its 2022 federal filings, the latest available.
Here are cases where bailing offenders out has resulted in disaster for public safety:
CHRISTOPHER BOSWELL
The Minnesota Freedom Fund paid $350,000 in cash for the release of Christopher Don Boswell in 2020, according to the local site Alphanews.com.
By that time he had already served almost 16 years in prison after being convicted of two rapes.
When he was bailed out, Boswell was facing ten felony counts including attempted rape, sexual assault and kidnapping against two women, according to local news reports.
No record of the outcome of those charges could be located, indicating they were dropped. The Post is waiting to hear back from police on the matter.
By 2022 Boswell was alleged to be dealing meth and accused of beating up his then-girlfriend. He is also said to have forced her into having oral sex with another man while he raped her, according to the charges filed against him by the state.
The charges also describe one occasion Boswell was driving to a liquor store and allegedly forced the girlfriend out of the car and to her knees while he fired off a gun to scare her.
He then told the woman to get back into the car where he fired another round out the window and said “I could have killed you twice now,” according to the court papers.
Boswell, now aged 41, was convicted of criminal sexual assault in the first degree, promoting prostitution, stalking and assault with a dangerous weapon last year over the 2022 incidents.
He is scheduled to be released in 2042, according to court records.
GEORGE HOWARD
In the summer of 2021, the freedom fund bailed out George Howard while he was awaiting trial on a misdemeanor domestic assault charge.
Less than a month later, Howard was arrested on a murder charge, accused of shooting another man — Luis Martinez Ortiz — in a road rage incident along a local highway in Minneapolis.
Several hours after Crime Watch Minneapolis posted a tweet condemning MFF for having bailed Howard out on the domestic assault charge – he was ultimately convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct in that case – the non-profit seemed to have second thoughts.
“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,” it said, later deleting the tweet and issuing a new statement.
“The killing of Luis Martinez Ortiz is an undeniable loss and tragedy for the entire community,” the new tweet said.
“We have heard from you and we have revised this statement because our previous statement did not acknowledge this deep loss and for that we apologize.”
Howard, who also goes by the name Ricco Lamont Passmore, 50, pleaded guilty last year. He is scheduled to be released in 2031.
LIONEL TIMMS
Lionel Melaki Timms, now 36, was bailed out by MFF for $10,000 in cash bail after being charged with committing a felony third-degree assault, causing substantial bodily harm, aboard a bus in Bloomington in July 2020.
Timms was said to have been panhandling and repeatedly hit a passenger who refused to give him money, leaving him with a fractured nose, swollen eye and multiple abrasions and needing hospital treatment, according to court documents in the case.
A month later Timms was arrested again on a new set of assault charges after allegedly leaving a victim with a traumatic brain injury, a fractured skull and a brain bleed after kicking them in an alley, according to reports.
The MFF commented on news of the second assault, saying it was “deeply saddened” by the assault on a “popular and well-respected member of our community.”
They also tried to blame local authorities, saying: “We paid his bail after working to first ensure that Mr. Timms would be provided with housing and other necessary support … Delays in the government’s processing of his release prevented him from receiving that assistance, setting the stage for the subsequent tragedy.”
Hennepin County Attorney’s Office brought another felony count of third-degree assault against him over the incident.
Both cases were combined and Timms was found guilty of felony assault in 2021 and sentenced to five years in prison, court records show.
