08/12/2024
Another Trump campaign ad DEBUNKED BY FACT CHECK.
Being in Minnesota, Trump attacked Harris for soliciting donations in 2020 for a Minnesota-based nonprofit that later paid bail for a man who went on to commit murder.
“Kamala urged her followers to donate to the so-called Minnesota Freedom Fund, helping raise $35 million to set loose violent offenders after they shot at police, looted your stores, sexually assaulted innocent victims and committed all sorts of other heinous crimes.” Trump said. “One of the criminals Kamala helped bail out of jail was Shawn Michael Tillman, very famous now unfortunately, a repeat offender, who, with Harris’ help, was set free – she set free many very bad people – then he went on a murder rampage. He killed a man on a train platform in St. Paul, shooting him six times in the head. She just turned him free.”
But Harris did not have the authority to free Tillman or other criminals. Tillman is not even someone Harris tried to help get out of jail.
Days after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by a police officer in May 2020, Harris encouraged donations “to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.” The group that she highlighted, the Minnesota Freedom Fund, pays bail for individuals who cannot afford to secure their release from jail while their court case is pending. The bail amount is set by a judge.
