[3] He is the son of Jane Shields and Orville Freeman, who was a Minnesota governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under presidents Kennedy and Lyndon B.

He ran for county attorney again in 2006 after incumbent Amy Klobuchar opted to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mark Dayton, and he was elected by a wide margin.

[12] In the wake of the George Floyd killing, a group launched a petition drive to have Freeman recalled.

[13] On September 11, 2020, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill banned Freeman and three of his staffers from working on the cases against the former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd's murder, including State v.

[15] Freeman was the prosecutor for noted black trans activist CeCe McDonald where she was prosecuted for manslaughter after stabbing a man with multiple violent felonies who had nazi tattoos.

CeCe took a plea deal rather than face the possibility of a long jail term despite the fact that she and her advocates claim self defense.