Kamala Harris donated to anti-police, pro-'sanctuary city' group as DC struggled with crime

Donations went to Legal Aid DC, an outspoken critic of police, immigration enforcement

Vice President Harris and her husband repeatedly donated to an anti-police and pro-sanctuary city nonprofit, according to financial disclosures released by the White House.

The donations went to Legal Aid DC, a nonprofit law group that provides services to impoverished Washington residents. In addition to its work with the poor, however, the group has called for slashing police budgets and decreasing patrols in high-crime areas.

"We are concerned, especially given the ongoing protest movement, about any solution that involves more police and policing in DC public housing. #BlackLivesMatterDC," the group's official X account, then-Twitter, tweeted just days after the death of George Floyd in 2020 in response to a report that the city's top prosecutor was suing its Housing Authority for its alleged failure to confront drug and gun crime.

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Demonstrators are shown during a protest over the death of George Floyd on June 6, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Less than a week later, the group condemned a proposed budget increase for Washington's Metropolitan Police Department.

"Legal Aid joins the call to reduce funding for police and re-invest in communities," the group posted. 

The posts came in 2020, shortly after Floyd's death and as anti-police riots broke out around the country, first in his hometown of Minneapolis and then in major cities including Washington, New York and Chicago.

Demonstrators clash with police during a protest over the death of George Floyd in Lafayette Square Park near the White House on May 29, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

In Washington, 52 U.S. Parks Police officers were injured trying to keep rioters away from the White House in 2020, according to Ken Spencer, chair of the U.S. Park Police Fraternal Order of Police.

"We condemn any politician that will support any agency that’s going to make it unsafe for our officers and the public that we protect," he told Fox News Digital. 

The agency, already suffering from historic staffing shortages, saw an exodus of officers after the riots like many other departments, he said.

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The Washington Examiner first reported the financial filings from Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, revealing the donations.

"So in 2023, the same year Washington, D.C.’s mayor had to declare a state of emergency regarding youth crime, Kamala donated to a group committed to defunding the police," said Paul Mauro, a former NYPD inspector. "The result of this can be seen in the sweeping crime reform bill our capital city had to pass recently in order to counteract naive, destructive agendas from public servants who behave more like campus activists. This from a prosecutor? No wonder our cities look like they do."

In November 2023, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency over youth violence.

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"In the first nine months of 2023, there have been 458 arrests of juveniles for robbery, including carjacking, homicide, or assault with a dangerous weapon – 10% more than the total number of such arrests in all of 2022," her office revealed at the time.

And crime wasn't just a youth problem.

A protester is shown during a demonstration near the White House on May 31, 2020. (SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)

Crime statistics through Aug. 12 from Washington's Metropolitan Police Department show a 30% year-to-date decline in homicides in the city.

But that's after reaching a 20-year high in 2023, with 274 homicides citywide. Between 2004 and 2023, annual homicides only surpassed 200 three times: in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Robberies increased nearly 70% in 2023 over 2022. Carjackings soared by over 80%. Both have dropped by double digits year-to-date.

Then-Sen. Kamala Harris joins fellow Democrats from the House and Senate as they kneel in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on June 8, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"Funny how a little enforcement can make a dent," Mauro said.

Earlier this year, Washington lawmakers reversed a number of post-Floyd reforms, almost unanimously.

Legal Aid DC also demanded Washington's City Council commit to being a "sanctuary" for illegal immigrants, calling for amendments to a bill in the hope they would expand housing handouts and other social benefits to homeless migrants arriving on buses from Arizona and Texas.

Migrant shelters, in turn, require more police resources to maintain public safety.

"This also shows that the charge that Kamala did nothing as President Biden’s ‘border czar’ is indeed not true," Mauro said. "While unvetted illegals flooded our borders and prison gangs like Tren de Aragua established a presence here, Kamala was funding a group to make our capital city a permanent sanctuary city. Those of us who got that wrong stand corrected."

The couple also donated thousands to Howard University and the University of Southern California, as well as a few other charities based in California and Washington, including the Matthew Silverman Memorial Foundation, which fights against teen suicide.

But Legal Aid DC is not the first far-left nonprofit that Harris has supported.

In 2020, she solicited donations from her supporters for the Minnesota Freedom Fund, ostensibly to post bail for Black Lives Matter protesters arrested during anti-police rioting in the spring and summer of 2020 after Floyd's death.

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But the group also posted bond for people accused of violent crimes, including at least two who were arrested on homicide charges after they made bail.

George Howard, a domestic violence suspect, went free and allegedly shot and killed another man in a road rage fight. Shawn Michael Tillman made bail a year later with help from the fund. He then allegedly found a rival at a train station and shot him six times.

Harris' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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