On June 1, 2020, as BLM/Antifa riots were spreading across America, former CA state prosecutor, Democratic vice-presidential candidate hopeful, and sitting US Senator Kamala Harris (CA), tweeted a message to her 5.7 million followers, asking them to contribute to the Minnesota Freedom Fund to help post bail for those arrested by law enforcement.

Harris referred to the people who were arrested, as “those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.”

The charity Harris promoted in her tweet, the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF) has a bit of a checkered past, especially when it comes to some of the criminals they’ve freed with donated bail money.

Reuters reports that in addition to Harris begging for money from her Twitter followers to be donated to the MFF, at least 13 of Joe Biden’s staffers contributed to the fund that allows violent criminals to return to the streets.

According to Alpha News and The Daily Caller – The MFF once helped free a 37-year-old man accused of raping an 8-year-old girl from jail.

Timothy Wayne Columbus

He “put his thing inside me,” an 8-year-old girl told authorities as they investigated allegations that 37-year-old Timothy Wayne Columbus sexually assaulted a child.

The report states that “‘Tim’ laid her [the victim] on the couch and held her down as he unbuckled his pants and then pulled down her pants.”

He then “told her not to tell anyone and continued to penetrate her,” according to the report.

This is not the first time Columbus has been investigated in connection with sexual crimes. He “has a prior juvenile adjudication for criminal sexual conduct … and is a registered sex offender,” the report notes.

The MFF paid at least $75,000 for his conditional release and as much as $300,000 for his unconditional release, according to records related to his ongoing case (court file number 27-CR-20-14425).

The fund also bailed out a man who allegedly broke into the home of a 71-year-old woman and tortured her, and a man accused of curb-stomping and robbing another man who walked with a cane the same day that George Floyd died. Records of the fund assisting these individuals and others were obtained by Alpha News in collaboration with the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF).

Richard Raynell Kelley

When officers responded to the home of a 71-year-old woman who called in regarding a domestic assault, they “observed a pool of blood” and found her nursing “a swollen eye that was competently red/bloodshot” with “bruises on her chest, shoulders, back, and legs,” per a statement of probable cause on file with the Hennepin County District Court.

The aged lady told officers that it was her son, 54-year-old Richard Raynell Kelley, who broke into her home, grabbed her, beat her, bound her with duct tape, and left her “laying on the floor at the foot of the stairs where officers later found a pool of blood.”

“Defendant [Kelley] proceeded to run up and down the stairs multiple times, stepping on Victim each time he passed her,” according to the statement of probable cause.

Kelley also told his elderly mother “he was going to kill her,” and kept her bound for a period of time while he napped and made food in her home.

The MFF freed him for between $4,000 and $50,000, depending on the terms of his bail, per a court document that indicates his set bail amounts.

Kelley later went on to violate a court order requiring him to remain in his home, according to another court document.

Kelley is currently at large, and his whereabouts are unknown, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the DCNF discovered.

Deshaun Jermaine Boyd

Surveillance video shows Deshaun Jermaine Boyd knocking a man with a cane to the ground, and then stomping on his head before robbing him, according to a statement of probable cause on file with the Hennepin County courts.

Boyd allegedly caused “significant injuries” to his victim’s “face and head.” When police found the victim, he “had difficulty talking and seemed to not understand where he was,” per the statement.

Harris promoted the fund too, in her own words, “help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota” during the George Floyd riots. Thanks to her help and the help of many other high-profile liberals, the fund raked in over $35 million ostensibly to assist arrested protesters. Only 6% of the money the fund has spent since Floyd’s death has actually gone towards this cause, per the MFF itself.

100 Percent Fed Up reported about celebrities who contributed to the MFF fund:

Comedian Seth Rogan donated to the MN Freedom Fund.

Far-left actor and activist Seth Rogan

Singer John Legend and his radical wife Chrissy Teigen donated to the fund.

Justin Timberlake and actor Steve Carell donated to the MN Freedom Fund—all with the intention of helping BLM protesters who were arrested during the violent riots a get out of jail free card.

“The Office” actor Steve Carell

The MN Freedom Fund, a group that proudly boasts on their website about how they criminal bail and immigration bonds, was recently under fire by the very people who donated to them. Many who thought their money would be somehow helping make black lives better, may be in for a rude awakening.

Who is behind the Minnesota Freedom Fund organization?

Simon Cecil has been the face of the Minnesota Freedom Fund since its founding. Today it’s led in part by executive director Tonja Honsey, “an incarceration survivor and a community healer [who]… uses her lived experience to advocate for the change that is needed to restore our communities from the trauma of mass incarceration,” according to MFF’s website.

According to 2018 tax documents submitted to the Internal Revenue Service, MFF’s board consists of attorneys Rory Fleming and Kassius O. Benson; Minnesota Department of Health staffer Jenn Andriano; University of Minnesota Law School professor Linus Chan; Michael Friedman, executive director of the Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis; Willy Madeira, an assistant Hennepin County public defender; and Bruce Peterson, a former Hennepin County district judge now teaching law at the University of Minnesota.

According to Breitbart – The once-obscure group used to pull in a mere $110,000 a year in donations, according to public tax records. But since the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, it has raked in more than $20 million in less than a week.

MFF’s sudden windfall raises questions about how the organization, which is led by Tonja Honsey, a George Soros acolyte who is also a convicted drug offender, is actually spending its money. Are funds being used to bail out violent Antifa members? Will some of that cash find its way into the coffers of Democrat politicians or special interests?

Tonya Honsey , photo credit: Star Tribune

The group’s aggressive demands to defund the police are also garnering attention. MFF is encouraging donations to Reclaim the Block, which has called for government divestment from the Minneapolis police. Reclaim is receiving financial support from the “Squad” — Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

MFF has been suspected of harboring Antifa sympathies through its close collaboration with the National Lawyers Guild, a radical leftist organization that has been called Antifa’s “unofficial legal arm.” President Donald Trump’s decision to classify Antifa as a domestic terror group could bring federal scrutiny to how MFF is using its money.

In the days since #BlackLivesMatter protests have swept the country, the MFF has become more brazen in its political rhetoric, including demands that Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz (D) defund the police. It has also attracted support from prominent Democrat politicians — including several Joe Biden staffers.

MFF, which didn’t respond to a request for comment, is legally restricted from giving money to political campaigns due to its 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

Now, everyday people who contributed to the MFF want to know where their money is being spent and how it’s helping the black community?

This Twitter user posted a screenshot of the all-white Minnesota Freedom Fund administrators, saying:

We told y’all before stop being so quick to donate money to these “organizations” y’all didn’t listen. Stop being emotional Minnesota Freedom Fund raised 35 MILLION and only spent 200k on bail??? And y’all really surprised from a board that look like this? Shhhhhhhiiiiiddddd

KBJ tweeted:
$35 million was raised in donations from people who are unemployed, who only received a one-time payment of $1200, who work regular-ass jobs…. only $200K was actually used towards bail. white people keep taking advantage of us but y’all wanna act like y’all don’t see it… ok.

https://twitter.com/breannexoxo_/status/1272756072873373697?s=20

This person called their $200,000 contribution to the BLM protesters after receiving $35 million from “unemployed” people during a pandemic, a “slap in the face,” adding, “This is disgusting.”@MNFreedomFund 35 million in donations and only spending $200K bailing a few people out is a slap in the face to every person unemployed during a pandemic who gave what money they had because they thought it was going to a good cause. This is disgusting.

https://twitter.com/SorrentiThott/status/1272753999943475200?s=20

The MN Freedom Fund reacted to the Twitter mob asking for transparency by offering a half-baked response to their legitimate questions: Without jeopardizing the safety of the folks we bailed out we paid well over $200k in the weeks since the uprising alone. We are working on doing more.

In yet another lame response to legitimate questions about where the $35 million is being spent, the MN Freedom Fund tweeted: Appreciate all those calling for transparency. We see y’all. Our values and mission have not changed since 2016. Be on the lookout for things coming on our end. Be well.

They also included a couple of screenshots from their website explaining their organization, including one portion that explains what they plan to do with the money they collected from the George Floyd riots:

Q: WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH ALL THE MONEY WE RECENTLY RAISED IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD?

A: We are grateful for the overwhelming support to bail our people out. In the last few days, tens of thousands of people from all over the world have donated more than $30 million dollars to MFF. We did not anticipate nor ask for this, but we will continue to do our part. Our work is deeply grounded in our support for racial and economic justice. The money raised allows us to continue our mission.

We know that many people have donated to us to support those protesting George Floyd’s murder and generations of police violence. We will prioritize posting bail for those arrested demanding justice for George Floyd.

This Twitter user may have revealed where the MN Freedom Fund money could be spent (hint: helping Somali immigrants?): “So this organization raised 35 Million dollars on a protest centered on BLACK people FOR IMMIGRANTS?????”

https://twitter.com/AriseBantu/status/1272751331137196032?s=20

This Twitter user won the internet with the best response of the night: “Maybe you should call the police. I’m sure they’d be happy to help…”

https://twitter.com/ArrrForReason/status/1272753565698793472?s=20

 

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