Minnesota man freed by Kamala Harris-supported bail fund now charged with murder
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A bail fund once backed by Vice President Kamala Harris helped free an alleged domestic abuser who is now accused of murder.
George Howard, 48, 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.
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.
On Aug. 29, he was charged with two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the interstate shooting.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund tweeted Friday admitting to its role putting Howard back on the streets. On Tuesday, the thread was inaccessible on Twitter but preserved by the Internet Archive.
"We are aware of reports of the tragic and fatal shooting in Minneapolis earlier this week allegedly involving George Howard, an individual the Minnesota Freedom Fund had previously provided with bail support," the group wrote. "MFF believes that every individual who has been arrested by the law enforcement is innocent until proven guilty, and if a judge deems them eligible for bail, they should not have to wait in jail simply because they don't have the same income or access to resources as others."
The group said it was monitoring the case and reviewing its policies.
"Under new leadership, MFF has implemented changes to its policies and procedures, and we will continue to assess them to ensure that we are being responsive to the safety and needs of our community," it said in a follow-up tweet.
Harris had promoted the bail group during the 2020 campaign, urging her Twitter followers to donate to the group in June of that year. A spokesperson for the vice president declined to comment Tuesday.
"If you're able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota," she wrote, linking to the group's donation site on ActBlue, a Democratic PAC.
Once funds are received the donors have no say in whose bail they go to covering, and the Freedom Fund has drawn criticism along the way, with reports that it had been bailing out violent criminals cropping up as early as last August.
Minneapolis-based FOX 9 reported that the fund spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to free an alleged knife murderer and a convicted rapist who was facing charges of sexual assault and kidnapping, among others.
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I hope I haven't upset anyone by posting the picture of murderer George Howard. It came with the article.
Kamala Harris (pronounced Kam-ala) set up a fund to help post bail for "those protesting on the ground in Minnesota." (aka the rioters)
Believe it or not, she is our Vice president!
Nope, i still can't believe it .....
After all, she had the desired qualifications - both of them!
You Go Girl!
And, of course, "WOOF!"
Shut the fuck up. How many cons have you had to evalaute?
Shut the fuck up.
Hit a nerve?
I have sat on several juries, one for a murder trial, but have never had to evaluate convicted felons for potential release. That noted, the alleged perpetrator of these actions has not been convicted of either at this time. Do I agree with the MFF's decision to bail out George Howard? I cannot say because I do not know the man's history or disposition, but I tend to disagree with bail when one is charged with a violent crime. It is certainly tragic that a man was killed in any case.
When we set aside the hyperbolic acrobatics some go through to tar and feather their opposition, both here on NT and at large, we can then look at the issues instead of the histrionics.
Minnesota man freed by Kamala Harris-supported bail fund now charged with murder
Can you spot the second conflation? It was handed to Vic, so he can't be blamed (?) entirely for it. I will spell it out for our less agile readers: Kamala Harris supports the freeing of murderers and career criminals....
This article is emblematic of the problems in America today. It takes events and, regardless of the actual relationship between the two, tries to cram them together to create the appearance of bad character on a politicians part, and then the minions of one cult or the other run around and repeat lies and exaggerations to each other, gleefully licking their collective chops, all the while drowning in disinformation. That is why it earned the "WOOF!"
Democrats, making the world a safer place for criminals and terrorists everywhere.
Note: Unless you are a US citizen belonging to the far right. Then no law is so minor that you will not be held for months w/o trial; and charged with the maximum penalty available.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough: Joe Biden “can’t protect us across the world, Democrats can’t protect our street, and Democrats can’t protect us at the border”
Republicans are going to campaign on that. Watch for it!
Spoken from some real, no shit background here. Ronin, how many years in the military or law enforcement do you have? Do you actually have any fucking clue what you are babbling about?
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FTA:
Sounds to me like he was standing his ground, defending himself.
He will get his day in court to try and prove it. Unfortunately his victim will not.
Minnesota is not a stand your ground state.
So unless he tried to retreat, and can prove it, he committed murder.
What is the point of this article? It seems like an obvious attempt to shade Harris, but you might want to reconsider such a stupid tactic. There is a loooong history of politicians who granted early release to someone who went on to murder someone. Hint: they aren’t all D.
If he wasnt black it wouldnt even have been seeded.
Projection on your part.
"If he wasnt black it wouldnt even have been seeded."
Truth!
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How fucking ignorant.
Nope. Spot on.
That he is black is not the issue. Unless of course you into race baiting.
That he was released by a bail fund program backed by the VP of the United States is the real story...
THAT'S the real reason it was seeded John. A real inconvenient truth for some here .....
Not spot on. IGNORANT.
No, not all D. But just about every one of them faced criticism for it. Is Harris supposed to be immune from criticism?
So it’s just a cheap shot then. Finally we agree on something!
There are systems in place to determine who should be released early to make room for incoming offenders. Since we don’t live in the movie Minority Report there’s no guarantees that early release parolees will not become recidivist, no matter the politics of who signs off on the decision.
No, just accurate.
I have no fucking clue what you are reading, but I do know for damn sure it can't be my posts.
Did you read the damn article at all? They didn't bail out some non violent criminal.
So he going to trial for domestic assault, Was freed on Aug 6, and by Aug 29 added two accounts of second degree murder. Sounds like a damn saint!
If you had read further you would find this wasn't the first time they bailed out those alleged of doing violence.
Bailing out a convicted rapist that was facing charges on sexual assault and kidnapping? WTF, who bails out someone like that and gets them back on the streets so they can cause more violence before their trial date?
Harris backed this organization because they were properly woke and bailing out the Democrat's rioting foot soldiers. She wasn't smart enough to do some research into the group. Of course bailing out violent rioters should have been her first damn clue!
Democrats never take responsibility for anything, ever! It is always someone else's fault.
Did you read the damn article at all?
Yes, I did. My point was simply that politicians on both sides have been guilty of trusting the incarcerated enough to allow them early conditional freedom. We incarcerate more citizens than any country on earth. Shit happens, so stop pretending that it’s always a Democrat who makes the bad judgement call.
Treating looters and violent rioters like heroes...
The Democratic way until January 2021
Dream on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not really a rebuttal, but an interesting take on the subject of bail funds.
Good video.
I completely agree with the point that bail should be affordable to accused AND that it is the judge's responsibility to NOT grant bail to anyone who is deemed to be a threat to others.
I really don't understand how any judge could have granted bail to this career criminal in Florida.
Yeah, Howard be fucked and rightly so.