Minnesota Freedom Fund under pressure after getting $30M in donations, spending over $200G on bail
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Minnesota nonprofit that raised over $30 million to bail out protesters jailed amid demonstrations against police brutality has only spent a fraction of the millions on its cause.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund said it has paid out more than $200,000 in bailouts in the weeks since protests began following George Floyd's death while in Minneapolis police custody.
"We are working on doing more," the group tweeted Monday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The low payout figure in relation with a massive uptick in donations led to criticism online.
"Return the money to people NOW. Before we find a way to take it back anyway,” one person responded. “Raised 35 million and only 200k went to bail funds? Absolutely no justification for that.”
"I’m not here to pass judgment," tweeted another. "Just here to do the math. 200K out of 35 million is 0.57%."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Another user posted: “Nah, we want receipts. You received millions.”
Journalist Andy Ngo tweeted in response along with a tweet criticizing another group for similar alleged dishonestly.
“This sounds familiar,” he wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Messages to the MFF from Fox News were not immediately returned.
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The fund was established in 2016 to pay criminal and immigrant bonds for those who could not afford to, with the goal of ending cash bail, which disproportionately impacts poor defendants. Before the nationwide protests that began in May, the nonprofit paid a maximum of $1,000 "in the course of a normal day," according to its website.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Until last month, the group mainly paid for a handful of misdemeanors each month, it said in a series of tweets Tuesday. The nonprofit said it prioritizes bail for people of color, the homeless, Minnesota residents and those detained while engaged in social justice causes.