Vice President Kamala Harris, who President Joe Biden endorsed after dropping his reelection bid Sunday afternoon, previously promoted a bail fund that released men then accused of rioting, sex offenses and beating women.
The Harris campaign is poised to present a contrast of “prosecutor vs. felon” between her and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, sources told CNN. Despite this, the vice president’s record reveals her prior lot support of bail funds that secured the release of men accused of sexual offenses and harming women.
At the height of the nationwide Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots in June 2020, vice presidential nominee and then-Democrat California Sen. Harris promoted a fundraiser for the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF). The fund faced criticism for helping to bail out accused rioters.
Thomas Moseley was bailed out with help from the Harris-backed MFF twice after being accused of damaging a police precinct in August 2020 and rioting in December 2020, according to the Hennepin County Attorney Office. Moseley was under investigation for allegedly trying to buy semi-automatic weapons from a gun store in Jan. 2021 through straw buyers, a press release read. He was charged with three felony counts for alleged possession of multiple drugs while also possessing a firearm.
The MFF also helped bail out Timothy Wayne Columbus, who faced 30 years in prison after being accused of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl in July 2020, court documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation showed. The MFF helped post bail for Richard Raynell Kelley who was accused of assaulting a 71-year-old woman after breaking into her home in August 2020, according to court documents. Kelley was eventually convicted of third-degree assault in July 2021, and his 15-month prison sentence was stayed by the judge, according to Alpha News.
A man who allegedly stomped on and stole from a victim on Minneapolis’ streets on May 25, 2020, had his bail fund supported by MFF, court documents obtained by DCNF revealed.
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
The MFF also assisted in bailing out of jail six men facing allegations that they committed violence against women between June 2020 and August 2020, according to court documents obtained by the DCNF. Two of the men allegedly strangled women at their own places of residence, while another man was accused of beating his girlfriend upwards of six times using a closed fist. Five of the six accused were previously convicted of charges related to domestic abuse, court records showed.
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We’ve had requests for a list of offenders @MNFreedomFund has bailed out who’ve gone on to commit new crimes, including serious assault, sex assault, murder. This list is by no means comprehensive, it’s only those we know.Link to this list when contacting your legislators.
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) February 16, 2022
In 2020, The Tides Center, a prominent Democratic dark money group, funneled $5.97 million into 23 bail funds, including the Harris-backed MFF, according to a financial form. This was a seismic increase from 2019, when The Tides Center reported providing $216,000 in financial support to eight bail funds. (RELATED: ‘Got To Take The Keys’: Media Reactions To Biden Stepping Down Include Shock, Tears)
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
In lockstep with Harris, celebrities, including Chrissy Teagan, Justin Timberlake, Steve Carrell and Emily Ratajkowski, also threw their support behind the MFF in 2020. More than a dozen Biden campaign staffers publicly declared their support for the fund, Reuters reported.
Harris served as San Francisco district attorney from 2004 to 2010. The vice president then became California’s attorney general from 2011 until 2017. She was elected as a U.S. senator for California in 2016.
Harris’s 2020 support of the Defund The Police movement came as a hard pivot from her history of incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders in California. In 2012, the office of then-Attorney General Harris “confirmed their intent not to comply” with a judicial order requiring the state to show a decrease in prison populations, according to The American Prospect. She reportedly kept less that 5,000 nonviolent drug offenders from being released from prison.
As the San Francisco District Attorney (SFDA), Harris oversaw more than 1,900 misdemeanor and felony convictions for marijuana convictions, according to Mercury News, citing the SFDA’s office’s records.
Since Biden’s endorsement, Harris secured the support of all state Democratic party chairs Sunday following a conference call, sources told Reuters. However, top Democrats like former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have yet to endorse Harris.
