Soft On Crime Kamala

By Isabel Vincent

Kamala Harris helped a controversial bail fund rake in millions of dollars, which it spent on getting violent criminals back on the streets in the name of “social justice” — only for some of them to commit more crimes, including murder.

Among the freed criminals: a twice-convicted male sex offender who went on to allegedly assault other women before his rearrest, and a man who left a victim with a traumatic brain injury after being sprung from jail while awaiting trial for another felony assault.

Following the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police, which sparked riots across the country, the Minnesota Freedom Fund received endorsements and donations from celebrities including Seth Rogan, Justin Timberlake and Cynthia Nixon.

Harris, then a California senator, also asked her supporters to donate in a June 2020 tweet.

“If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota,” Harris wrote.

The fund, started in 2016, raked in $41,655,560, according to its 2020 tax filings — a huge windfall compared to previous years when it took in between $100,000 and $230,000 in annual donations, according to public records.

The injection of capital allowed the group to go from spending $1,000 a day on bail to more than $100,000 to spring offenders, according to a report.

Crime watchdogs point out how big bail funds can undermine the system itself, and say Harris — herself a former prosecutor and district attorney in California — should know better.

Hannah E. Meyers, an expert on policing at the Manhattan Institute, told The Post: “The value of the bail system is that it provides leverage, ensuring that someone charged with hurting the community doesn’t do it again before trial.

“For most people, the idea of losing their own money or the savings of their loved ones is a huge motivator for not reoffending. Bail funds scramble this dynamic, since — humans being what they are — nobody cares as much about losing strangers’ money.”

Meyers also noted bail is set at judges’ discretion, and should be made economically appropriate to the person in front of them. She also pointed out how those who have previously been convicted are much more likely to reoffend.

“Advocates for extreme bail reform often try to obscure these very different levels of risk between releasing serious, repeat offenders and low-level or first-time offenders.”

Since 2016, MFF has paid $21.2 million in cash bail and $4.8 million for immigration bonds, freeing 2,537 people from pre-trial detention and 463 from immigration detention, according to statistics on its website.

A crime watchdog group in Minneapolis that monitors the fund’s bail initiatives and crime in the city called Harris’ actions endorsing the group “irresponsible.”

“It was ridiculous for Kamala Harris or any government official to promote an organization like Minnesota Freedom Fund, considering she didn’t make the tweet until June 1, well after it was clearly obvious that our city was being burned and looted by protesters,” said the director of the group, who did not want to be identified because of safety concerns.

“The fact that Harris’ tweet still has not been deleted, nor has she denounced how irresponsible MFF has been in bailing out dangerous offenders, even after all the controversy and proof of harm that MFF has caused to Minnesota, is proof she cares more about criminals than law-abiding citizens.”

When asked about the filings and the criticism leveled against their initiatives in bailing out sometimes violent criminals, the group told The Post Tuesday it is “a local nonprofit led by a volunteer-based board.

“We received an unprecedented level of support following the murder of George Floyd, and we have used that support to advance our mission during the years since,” said Noble Frank, the group’s communications director.

Despite the huge influx of cash, MFF listed a loss of $6.7 million on its 2022 federal filings, the latest available.

Here are cases in which bailing offenders out has resulted in disaster for public safety:

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