The war on public safety: Minnesota Freedom Fund

Back in December of 2016, American Experiment hosted an event with Heather Mac Donald titled “The War on Cops.” Since then, things have escalated. We’ve continued to stay on top of this issue, recently writing about how Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender is spreading lies about the police. The council is working to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department even as violent crime surges in the city, with its black residents suffering the most.

But this “war on cops” is only one part of a much broader war on the safety of Minnesotans. It is being waged by people who are driven by an ideological belief that crime should not be fought. Many of these people are, of course, rich enough to be isolated from the consequence of such lunacy. It is the regular Minnesotans of places like northeastern Minneapolis and the Uptown area who suffer.

One of the organizations involved in this war on public safety is the so-called Minnesota Freedom Fund. This organization is backed by a number of celebrities such as Chrissy Teigen, Steve Carrell, Don Cheadle, Justin Timberlake and Vice President Kamala Harris.

During the riots in the Twin Cities last year, these people donated to bail out people accused of destroying largely minority-owned businesses in heavily ethnic parts of the Twin Cities. More recently, they bailed out George Howard. As Fox News reports:

Howard had been out on $11,500 bond in connection with a domestic assault case since Aug. 6, court records show. That’s when the Minnesota Freedom Fund bailed him out.

Howard is now in custody once again after he:

…allegedly became involved in a road rage altercation on an Interstate 94 entrance ramp before he shot another driver, according to Minneapolis police – weeks after bailing out on domestic assault charges.

Surveillance video recorded the moments when the driver of a blue BMW confronted Howard, who was driving a white Volvo, according to St. Paul’s KSTP-TV. The victim can be seen punching Howard, then collapsing.

The victim, later identified as Luis Damian Martinez Ortiz, 38, got back into his car, then drove into the median. He was pronounced dead at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to city officials. 

In a now-deleted tweet, the Minnesota Freedom Fund confirmed bailing Howard out.

Jai Hanson, who is running for Hennepin County Sheriff, explained in a Facebook post why the actions of the Minnesota Freedom Fund and its rich donors are so detrimental to the safety of ordinary Minnesotans:

But these dilettantes aren’t the only people waging this war on public safety in Minnesota. Next, we’ll look at local prosecutors.