Warning: This article contains content that some readers may find disturbing.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF), a charity promoted by Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, helped free a 37-year-old man accused of raping an 8-year-old girl from jail.
The fund also bailed out a man who allegedly broke into the home of a 71-year-old woman and tortured her, and a man accused of curb stomping and robbing another man who walked with a cane the same day that George Floyd died. Records of the fund assisting these individuals and others were obtained by Alpha News in collaboration with the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF).
Harris first promoted the fund on June 1 when she asked her supporters to give the MFF their money on Twitter. The link she included in her Twitter post still leads to a page featuring her branding that allows individuals to give money to the fund, as of September 10.
Harris promoted the fund to, in her own words, “help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota” during the George Floyd riots. Thanks to her help and the help of many other high-profile liberals, the fund raked in over $35 million ostensibly to assist arrested protesters. Only 6% of the money the fund has spent since Floyd’s death has actually gone towards this cause, per the MFF itself.
A large portion of the money actually went to freeing alleged criminals arrested on charges that are not related to the protests.
Timothy Wayne Columbus
He “put his thing inside me,” an 8-year-old girl told authorities as they investigated allegations that 37-year-old Timothy Wayne Columbus sexually assaulted a child.
The report states that “‘Tim’ laid her [the victim] on the couch and held her down as he unbuckled his pants and then pulled down her pants.”
He then “told her not to tell anyone and continued to penetrate her,” according to the report.
This is not the first time Columbus has been investigated in connection with sexual crimes. He “has a prior juvenile adjudication for criminal sexual conduct … and is a registered sex offender,” the report notes.
If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.
The MFF paid at least $75,000 for his conditional release and as much as $300,000 for his unconditional release, according to records related to his ongoing case (court file number 27-CR-20-14425).
Columbus filed to have his bail money returned to the MFF prior to his release, indicating that the group provided the funds to set him free.
Richard Raynell Kelley
When officers responded to the home of a 71-year-old woman who called in regarding a domestic assault, they “observed a pool of blood” and found her nursing “a swollen eye that was competently red/bloodshot” with “bruises on her chest, shoulders, back and legs,” per a statement of probable cause on file with the Hennepin County District Court.
The aged lady told officers that it was her son, 54-year-old Richard Raynell Kelley, who broke into her home, grabbed her, beat her, bound her with duct tape and left her “laying on the floor at the foot of the stairs where officers later found a pool of blood.”
“Defendant [Kelley] proceeded to run up and down the stairs multiple times, stepping on Victim each time he passed her,” according to the statement of probable cause.
Kelley also told his elderly mother “he was going to kill her,” and kept her bound for a period of time while he napped and made food in her home.
The statement of probable cause also notes that by invading his mother’s home, he violated a no-contact order. The statement adds that authorities are concerned Kelley may do further harm to his mother if freed from custody.
The MFF freed him for between $4,000 and $50,000, depending on the terms of his bail, per a court document that indicates his set bail amounts.
Kelley later went on to violate a court order requiring him to remain in his home, according to another court document.
Kelley is currently at large, and his whereabouts are unknown, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the DCNF discovered.
Like Columbus, the fact that Kelley filed for his bail to be returned to the Freedom Fund indicates that the MFF paid his way out of police custody.
Deshaun Jermaine Boyd
Surveillance video shows Deshaun Jermaine Boyd knocking a man with a cane to the ground, and then stomping on his head before robbing him, according a statement of probable cause on file with the Hennepin County courts.
Boyd allegedly caused “significant injuries” to his victim’s “face and head.” When police found the victim, he “had difficulty talking and seemed to not understand where he was,” per the statement.
Just one day after he was arrested, Boyd filed to have his bail money returned to the MFF, again indicating that the fund secured his release.
The three individuals listed in this article are just some of the many individuals bailed out by the Minnesota Freedom Fund and identified by Alpha News and the DCNF. Both outlets will continue to publish more stories about these individuals.
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
