Former President Donald Trump’s campaign pummeled Vice President Kamala Harris for promoting a bail fund during the Black Lives Matter protests that ultimately helped free people accused of murder, sex assault and other violent crimes.
Harris, 59, had amplified a fundraiser for the Minnesota Freedom Fund in 2020 during the wave of Black Lives Matter protests that popped up in Minnesota and other parts of the country following the death of George Floyd.
“Soon all of America will know the price people have and will pay for @KamalaHarris dangerous ideas,” senior Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita posted on X alongside a video attacking Harris.
Against the backdrop of what appeared to be footage of the burning of a Minneapolis police precinct caused by the riots in 2020, the campaign highlighted reports suggesting that the Minnesota Freed Fund raised $35 million within a few weeks after Harris promoted it.
The campaign spot them rattles off a list of violet criminals who were set free due to bailouts from the Minnesota Freedom Fund.
All of the offenders are currently in prison — either for the charges that they were bailed out for, or for subsequent crimes.
The fund reportedly posted $100,000 bail for Darnika Floyd, who was charged with second-degree murder and accused of stabbing a man to death after he said he wanted a threesome with her and a friend. She was sentenced to prison in 2021 on a charge of aiding and abetting murder.
Christopher Boswell, a twice-convicted rapist who was charged with kidnapping and sexual assault was released on $350,000 bail after the fund put up the cash for him. He was sentenced to prison in 2023 for criminal sexual conduct.
Donovan Boone, was accused if breaking into his girlfriend’s home and choking her. He was released on $3,000 bail from the fund. He’s currently serving time for burglary after being sentenced in 2022.
The ad also briefly spotlighted Shawn Michael Tillman who committed a murder in St. Paul after getting set free by the fund.
Tillman was convicted of gunning down a rival on a light rail platform in 2022. He is currently serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder.
And, it highlighted a clip from a leader in the organization who said he often doesn’t look at the charges when mulling a bailout.
Since its founding in 2016, the fund has bailed out over 2,500 people, according to its website.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund has since sought to downplay Harris’ involvement.
“It is not correct that then-Sen. Harris has donated to our organization. We have no relationship with Harris beyond a single four-year-old tweet,” the organization said in a statement.
But four years later, Harris’ social media post is still up and still appears to link to an active fundraiser for the Minnesota Freedom Fund.
“Kamala Harris: Failed. Weak. Dangerously liberal,” the GOP spot concluded.
Trump’s campaign released the ad ahead of the 45th president’s swing through St. Cloud, Minnesota as his team hopes to flip the state red in a presidential cycle for the first time in roughly 50 years.
The former president later highlighted Harris’ role in promoting the Minnesota Freedom funding during his Saturday rally in the North Star State.
“Kamala urged her followers to donate to the so-called Minnesota Freedom Fund, helping raise $35 million dollars to set loose violent offenders after they shot at police, looted stores, sexually assaulted innocent victims, and committed other heinous crimes,” Trump said, drawing boos from the crowd over Harris.
A senior Trump advisor reportedly quipped that Harris “has several Willie Hortons in her past” — a reference to an iconic attack line deployed against Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential campaign.
Then-Vice President George H.W. Bush used the Horton case to paint Dukakis, the former governor of Massachusetts, as weak on crime. Horton, a convicted murderer, had been released temporarily via a furlough program but did not return to prison and went on to brutally rape a Maryland woman after tying up and stabbing her fiancé.
Meanwhile, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, both Dems, headlined a rally in St. Paul Saturday to back Harris. Walz is reportedly being considered as part of Harris’ veepstakes.
Harris previously served as the district attorney for San Francisco and then as attorney general for California.
During her first week campaigning for president in the 2024 cycle, Harris has sought to crow about her time as a prosecutor and juxtapose that against Trump, who had been found guilty in the Manhattan hush money case back in May.
“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type,” Harris chided last Monday.
Trump, in turn, has ripped into her record in California and San Francisco.
“Kamala Harris was the original Marxist district attorney. She destroyed San Francisco and she will destroy our country,” he warned at his rally Saturday.