Aaron Freeman is an American lawyer and politician from the state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He has been a Republican member of the Indiana Senate from 2016, representing the 32nd district. He previously served on the Indianapolis City-County Council from 2010 to 2016.

Early life and education

Freeman grew up in Brookville, Indiana. After graduating from high school, he became an

emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics are ...

, reserve deputy sheriff, and

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

dispatcher.Abrahm Hurt
Q&A Meet Sen. Aaron Freeman, from volunteer to senator
''TheStatehouseFile.com'' (January 23, 2017). He graduated from Bradley University and the

University of Dayton School of Law The University of Dayton School of Law (UDSL) is a private law school located in Dayton, Ohio. It is affiliated with the University of Dayton, which is a Catholic university of the Society of Mary. The school is accredited by the American Bar As ...

.Staff Report
Freeman Announces Candidacy For Indiana Senate Seat
''TheStatehouseFile.com'' (January 13, 2016).

Career as prosecutor and lawyer in private practice

Freeman was a Marion County deputy prosecutor before entering the private practice of lawElizabeth DePompei
Indiana senator asked to end campaign after 2016 comments on Black Lives Matter resurface
''Indianapolis Star'' (July 3, 2020). as the owner of his own firm, Aaron Freeman Law Office, LLC, which he opened in 2010 in Franklin Township.

Political career

Freeman joined the Indianapolis City-County Council in March 2010, after being selected by Republican precinct committee members to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Lincoln Plowman.Former councilman indicted in strip club case
''Indianapolis Business Journal'' (September 16, 2010). Freeman was a member of the council for six years, representing a district in the southeast side of the city. He was elected to the

Indiana State Senate The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms ...

in 2016 from District 32,Hayleigh Colombo
City council to get two new Republicans after members elected to higher office
''Indianapolis Business Journal'' (November 16, 2016). Freeman received 31,173 votes (58.2%), defeating Democratic nominee Sara Wiley, who received 20,184 votes (37.7%). Freeman succeeded longtime Senator Patricia L. Miller, who chose to retire after 34 years in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

.Chelsea Schneider
Candidates line up to seek seat of retiring state Sen. Patricia Miller
''Indianapolis Star'' (January 13, 2016). Freeman describes himself as a "solid Republican" and a conservative. In 2016, weeks after the killings of

Alton Sterling On July 5, 2016, Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was shot and killed by two Baton Rouge Police Department officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The officers, who were attempting to control Sterling's arms, shot Sterling while Sterling al ...

and

Philando Castile On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile, a 32-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot during a traffic stop by police officer Jeronimo Yanez of the St. Anthony police department in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. Castile was ...

, Freeman dismissed the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

movement, saying on a segment on '' Full Frontal with Samantha Bee'', "I just don't think it's helpful to the country. I don't know what their purpose is." The comments were raised in 2020 by Democratic state Senator

Eddie Melton Eddie Melton (born 1981) is an American politician from the state of Indiana. A member of the Democratic Party, Melton serves in the Indiana Senate as the Senator for Indiana Senate District 3. He also serves as Deputy Chair of the Indiana Demo ...

, who asked Freeman to drop his reelection bid over the comments, a request that Freeman rebuffed. After Republican Senator

Ron Alting Ronald J. Alting is a member of the Indiana State Senate representing Senate District 22, which contains most of Tippecanoe County. He is a Republican. Alting was first elected to the Indiana State Senate in 1998. Prior to that, Alting served as ...

sponsored a

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

s bill in the state Senate in 2019, seeking to allow judges to increase sentences for bias-motivated crimes (Indiana is one of just five states without such a law), Freeman introduced an amendment that gutted the bill, removing the specified protection categories—race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability—and replacing them with a generic definition of "bias."Dave Bangert
Lafayette Sen. Ron Alting will vote against his own, gutted Indiana bias crime bill
''Journal & Courier'' (February 20, 2019). After the amendment passed on a 33–16 vote, Alting voted against the bill as amended, honoring a pledge not to support any hate-crimes bill that omitted protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In the state Senate, Freeman has been a prominent and avowed opponent of plans for an expansion of Indianapolis's

IndyGo The Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation, branded as IndyGo, is a public transit agency and municipal corporation of the City of Indianapolis in the U.S. state of Indiana. It operates fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtrans ...

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

system. In 2018, in response to

mass shootings There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 200 ...

at schools, Freeman called for the stationing of police officers at every school, saying, "We need to harden these targets and we'll put a stop to this." For three consecutive years, Freeman sponsored legislation to criminalize " revenge porn"; the measure was enacted in 2019. Along with other Republican lawmakers, he supported a bill in 2020 to ban local governments in Indiana from enacting tenant protection regulations; the bill was backed by landlords and opposed by tenant advocates.Tom Davies
Indiana lawmakers back banning local rental regulations
Associated Press (March 12, 2020). Freeman defeated Democratic nominee Belinda Drake in 2020 to retain his seat in the Indiana General Assembly.

Personal life

Freeman is married and has two sons. He lives in Franklin Township.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Aaron Living people Republican Party Indiana state senators 21st-century American politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Indianapolis City-County Council members