A man freed under a rioter bail fund backed by now Vice President Kamala Harris is in jail after murdering a man in a Minneapolis road rage incident.
38-year-old Luis Damian Martinez was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner. He was shot and killed by 47-year-old George Howard, of Minneapolis.
KSTP-ABC reports, “Surveillance video reportedly showed Ortiz, in a blue BMW, and Howard, in a white Volvo, “get into a road rage incident” on the ramp entering the interstate. Ortiz could be seen getting out of his vehicle and approaching Howard’s vehicle. Ortiz then collapsed and Howard could be seen driving away. Ortiz got back into his vehicle, drove down the ramp and subsequently crashed, surveillance video showed.”
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The Minnesota Freedom Fund acknowledged they had paid to free Howard from jail prior to committing the murder.
“We are aware of reports of the tragic and fatal shooting in Minneapolis earlier this week allegedly involving George Howard, an individual the Minnesota Freedom Fund had previously provided with bail support,” the operators of the fund said in a statement. “MFF believes that every individual who has been arrested by the law enforcement is innocent until proven guilty, and if a judge deems them eligible for bail, they should not have to wait in jail simply because they don’t have the same income or access to resources as others.”
The fund gained national attention when it was touted by then-Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris who urged Americans to donate to the fund to free looters and rioters during the violent Minneapolis George Floyd riot.
“If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota,” Harris pleaded with her 18 million followers on Twitter last June.
“Minneapolis-based FOX 9 reported that the fund spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to free an alleged knife murderer and a convicted rapist who was facing charges of sexual assault and kidnapping, among others,” Fox News reported.