SerpApi.Org
Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison was heckled at a Democratic Party rally in his home state Monday.
Ellison was giving a speech at a rally for Peggy Flanagan, lieutenant governor of Minnesota and candidate for U.S. Senate, when he was interrupted by the hecklers. They were yelling, "Fund the C.R.U., Keith Ellison, shame on you!"
The hecklers were referring the to the Conviction Review Unit (CRU), a Minnesota AG program which focused on appeals to convictions. The program used federal funding for these investigations, and was forced to close down July 1, after the DOJ grant was not renewed, KARE 11 reported. The CRU's website now reads, "Due to budgetary constraints, the Minnesota Attorney General's Office had to make the very difficult decision to eliminate the Conviction Review Unit."
"Following the Trump Administration's refusal to renew federal grant funding that supported the program, my Office is suspending our Conviction Review Unit," Ellison told KARE 11 News. "Current budget constraints do not allow the program's costs to be absorbed without compromising other core responsibilities."
Marvina Haynes, who campaigned for her brother's release after he was wrongfully convicted, was devastated by the closure of the program.
"That really breaks my heart because people really depend on the CRU," Haynes told Fox 9. "This work is very important. Families depend on this lifeline, right? It gave people hope."
In response to the commotion from the crowd, Ellison let them continue, saying, "we are going to let them have their moment."
He continued, "I believe in freedom of expression, so let's give a hand for our friends over there."
Fellow Democrat James Talarico, candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, was heckled at a rally in Texas over the weekend when a woman yelled, "You stay here, you answer our questions, or you suffer the consequences!" The woman later followed up with a video on social media saying Talarico was "talkin' all that fly-assshit."
