Attorney General sues Twin Cities violence interruption nonprofit
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The Minnesota attorney general sued a Twin Cities violence intervention nonprofit last week, claiming its directors used millions of dollars in funding for personal expenses.
The nonprofit organization We Push for Peace contracted with the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County to provide violence interruption services. Staff frequented certain areas of the city to monitor public safety and engage with community members.
The organization also contracted with stores, including Whole Foods and Cub Foods, to greet shoppers and watch out for safety risks.
Those contracts and grants brought in millions of dollars. In a lawsuit filed in district court last week, Attorney General Keith Ellison alleged leaders of the nonprofit misused more than $6.5 million of that.
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The lawsuit said former director Trahern Pollard used $6 million of that to pay for luxury cars, trips, child support and his own private businesses. Pollard also allegedly broke various nonprofit laws.
According to the attorney general’s office, We Push for Peace did not have a board of directors, but was run solely by Pollard and former director Jaclyn McGuigan, who is also named in the lawsuit.
The two directors never maintained a budget or formalized any governing rules for the organization. The lawsuit claims Pollard told investigators with the attorney general’s office, “I treated the money like it was mine.”
Pollard started the organization in 2016 and stepped up its work in 2020 after Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd. At that point, the city stepped up its work with violence interrupters, including contracting with We Push for Peace.
“We Push for Peace’s former leaders betrayed their basic duties to the nonprofit and communities they were supposed to serve,” Attorney General Ellison said in a statement. “Instead of helping the community, they helped themselves to millions of dollars that should have gone into the community.”
The attorney general’s office started its investigation into the nonprofit in March 2024. The office said Pollard and McGuigan tried to cover up their misuse of funds.
The nonprofit has since changed leadership. The attorney general’s office said in a statement that the organization’s new leaders cooperated with the investigation, but “the extent of Pollard and McGuigan’s violations and ongoing attempts to thwart the investigation necessitated legal action.”
Neither Pollard, McGuigan nor We Push for Peace immediately responded to requests for comment.
The lawsuit was the second last week filed by the attorney general’s office against a nonprofit for misusing funds.
