The Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF), a bail fund championed by Vice President Kamala Harris, suffered a 98 percent drop in contributions in 2021, according to tax forms reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
The bail fund that gained national attention during the George Floyd protests, has seen its support dwindle. MFF pays bail for people who otherwise cannot afford it. The organization has raised over $100 million since its founding in 2016 and has been heavily criticized by opponents after it’s posted bail for career criminals who’ve gone on to commit new offenses while out on bail.
The organization raised just $837,000 in 2021, according to its IRS Form 990 filing. That’s a far cry from the $41.7 million the group raised in 2020 during the George Floyd riots. Harris urged people to support the fund “to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.” The fund used those donations to bail out a host of violent offenders, including alleged murderers and pedophiles.
Donations for MFF have slowed, and there are a number of explanations given for the decline in support. Some people believe the fund is no longer necessary, as bail reform efforts have made it easier for people to be released from jail without paying bail. Others believe that the fund is too focused on helping people who have been arrested for minor offenses, and that it should focus on helping people who have been arrested for more serious crimes. Still others believe that the fund is not transparent enough about how it spends its money.
MFF’s financial windfall in 2020 was thanks in no small part to Harris’s endorsement of the group, according to American Bail Coalition executive director Jeffrey Clayton. Moreover, at least 13 staff members who worked for President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign donated to the fund in the days following Floyd’s death, Reuters reported.
Leaders have consistently defended its spending practices, saying that it is committed to helping people who are unable to afford bail, regardless of the charges against them.
MFF is just one of a number of social justice darlings that have suffered dwindling support recently. Other groups that have seen their coffers decline include the Innocence Project and Black Live Matter.
BLM, which raised $90 million following Floyd’s death, reported last month that its revenues plummeted 88 percent in its 2022 fiscal year, Law Officer reported. The organization blew a sizable portion of its windfall on luxury homes and lucrative contracts for the family and friends of the group’s co-founder, Patrisse Cullors.
