New Felony Charges For Minneapolis Man Charged 3 Times Since October
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minneapolis man thrice charged and twice bailed out since October faces a fresh set of charges from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.
The three new charges against 29-year-old Thomas Moseley stem from a search of the man's truck after an October arrest.
Police picked up Moseley during a protest at the Hennepin County Government Center on Oct. 15, 2020. According to the criminal complaint, he was wanted, and later charged, in relation to the damage of the Minneapolis Police Department's Fifth Precinct in August.
While arresting Moseley, police found a handgun in his waistband, the attorney's office said. He was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon.
After towing and searching Moseley's pickup truck, which was parked nearby on the day of the protest, police found "three handguns, a shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle as well as a panel for stopping bullets in a bullet-proof vest, a gas mask and about 50 bullets," the attorney's office said. They also found marijuana, cocaine and psychotropic mushrooms, which spurred the latest charges: three felony counts of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund posted bail for Moseley for his property damage and weapon charges, as well as for a second-degree riot charge incurred on New Year's Eve, according to the attorney's office.
The Freedom Fund released the following statement:
"Freedom Fund believes that every individual who has been arrested by the police is innocent until proven guilty, and should not have to wait in jail simply because they do not have the same income or resources as others with more financial privilege. We do not make determinations of bail support based on the crimes that individuals are alleged to have committed. Additionally, we do not subscribe to the county attorney's agenda to keep in place a racist and classist system that uses bail as a means to hold individuals before their trial, regardless of community support and ability to make their court dates. As Thomas Moseley's attorney has stated, 'this is a persecution of a political activist with prosecutors using an organization that helps pay people's bail as an excuse to raise their bail'. Rather than moving toward the progressive pre-trial detention reform that is truly needed and seen in Cook County/Illinois this month - the Hennepin County Attorney's Office is moving in the complete opposite direction. Minnesota Freedom Fund whole-heartedly agrees with Washington County Attorney Peter Orput quoted in Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman's announcement last month about a weak gesture posing as bail reform in Hennepin County: that 'Cash bail and public safety have nothing to do with each other.' We will eagerly be watching to see how the conversation of cash bail reform started by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office in December continues into the new year and is reflected in how the system treats this individual."
