By Michael Bielawski, for KeepVermontSafe.com
St. Albans Mayor Tim Smith warned at a recent City Council meeting about an organization he says provided bail money to a known repeat offender for petty crimes. The the Vermont Freedom Fund is tied to a national organization funded by Tides, founded by billionaire investor George Soros that has also received funding from Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
“I want to make sure that people are aware of the fact that one of our individuals who has a long record of petty theft and breaking into cars was sent to jail with bail posted at $2,000 and there’s an organization in Vermont called the Vermont Freedom Fund which pays bail to get these individuals out of jail,” said Smith.
He continued, “The individual who was recently released was spotted on cameras once again trying to break into vehicles. But the Vermont Freedom Fund [VFF] we can thank for their bailing folks out and impacting what we are trying to do as a community.”
The comments were made about 50 minutes into the Sept. 14 St. Albans Select Board meeting.
The identity of this individual was not mentioned. According to Neighborhoodscout.com, the city is generally known as a tough crime spot.
“With a crime rate of 47 per one thousand residents, St. Albans has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes,” the site states.
VDC reached out to VFF for a response. If they get back then there will be an update to this story.
Ties to political mega-donors
The VFF webpage states they are “a statewide, volunteer-run bail fund that pays pretrial bail, immigration bonds, as well as other expenses to get community members released from jail.”
It also states, “People do not belong in cages! Let’s build solidarity and compassion!”
The program is associated with the Tides Foundation, a Soros-associated funding source for various liberal causes. VFF’s page references their work with the Community Justice Exchange [CJE]. The CJE site confirms that they take funding from Tides.
The CJE site states, “Community Justice Exchange develops, shares, and experiments with tactical interventions, strategic organizing practices, and innovative organizing tools to end all forms of criminalization, incarceration, surveillance, supervision, and detention.”
It also states, “The National Bail Fund Network was hosted at the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund in its first two years. The Network is currently hosted at the Community Justice Exchange, a project of Tides.”
According to Wikipedia, Tides is a “left-leaning donor-advised fund” worth over $1.4 billion in assets.
“Tides distributes money from anonymous donors to other organizations, which are often politically progressive. An affiliated group, Tides Advocacy, is a ‘massive progressive incubator.’ Tides has received substantial funding from George Soros.”
A Politico report from May 2024 on pro-Palestinian protesters also describes Tides as “seeded by Democratic megadonor George Soros and was previously supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.”
The report adds, “It in turn supports numerous small nonprofits that work for social change.”
Vermont legislature taking action
In recent years Vermont has moved towards the progressive-led reduction of cash bail. However, recent legislative initiatives have reversed that trend and cash bail is seen more often now.
Partners with Migrant Justice
According to the VFF site, they are partners with the local social activist group Migrant Justice.
“Vermont Freedom Fund works alongside Migrant Justice, an organization of Vermont farm workers fighting for food justice and human rights,” it states.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle