by Eric Lendrum
Tax forms have revealed that, over the course of 2021, numerous nonprofit groups backed by far-left billionaire George Soros donated tens of millions of dollars to groups and initiatives that actively campaigned against the police.
Fox News reports that nonprofit groups that are members of Soros’ Open Society Foundations network collectively gave at least $55 million to such anti-police movements. This included groups utilized by progressives to actively dismantle law enforcement, as well as databases that track donations to police departments and police unions.
“The Open Society Foundations is proud to have been one of the earliest and most robust supporters of efforts to address the issues of crime and public safety while protecting freedoms that Americans hold dear,” said Laleh Ispahani, a spokeswoman for Open Society-U.S., in a statement. “We have supported reforms to our criminal justice system that enjoy broad support across the political spectrum. We believe that our freedoms are threatened when state actors are above the law, and that accountability is even more essential when they are given the right to use force on behalf of the government.”
“The level of police violence, particularly impacting communities of color, has spurred reform efforts across the country,” Ispahani falsely stated. “Open Society supports the exploration and development of policies that actually work to reduce crime and defers to communities regarding what alternatives make sense to them. Whether that includes shifting funding currently allocated to policing into services that actually work to address crime and improve public safety is up to them.”
Among the largest donations, the Open Society Policy Center gave $15 million to the Tides Advocacy for the Electoral Justice Project, a project that is being led by the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over 50 pro-Black Lives Matter groups. The Movement for Black Lives had previously pledged to hand out as much as $75,000 to “12 black-led organizations that are expanding democracy and building political power in defense of black lives.”
Soros also donated heavily to a failed ballot initiative in 2021 that would have eliminated the Minneapolis Police Department and replaced it with a civilian-led “public safety agency,” with his policy center giving $500,000 to the group Vote Yes 4 Minneapolis, a coalition of 33 groups that backed the initiative.
For years, Soros has worked to actively undermine law and order in the United States by financially supporting district attorney candidates who implement soft-on-crime policies, often making it easier for criminals to be released from jail and reducing the penalties for certain crimes. Examples of successful Soros-backed DA candidates include Chicago’s Kim Foxx, Los Angeles’ George Gascon, and Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner. San Francisco’s Chesa Boudin was recalled earlier this year due to the impact of his soft-on-crime approach, and Krasner is facing impeachment from the Philadelphia state legislature.
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Eric Lendrum reports for American Greatness.
