State Roundup, April 29, 2015

QUELLING THE UNREST: Gov. Larry Hogan vowed Tuesday to bring peace to the streets of Baltimore, announcing more than 1,000 additional National Guard troops would arrive in the city to quell potential unrest, report Erin Cox and Michael Dresser of the Sun. “We’re going to bring whatever resources are necessary, whatever assets are necessary, whatever manpower is necessary to let the citizens of Baltimore know that their neighborhoods are going to be safe,” Hogan told reporters at a noon press conference. “We’re not going to have another repeat of what happened last night,” he said. “It’s not going to happen tonight.”

O’MALLEY GETS HECKLED: Wesley Lowery and John Wagner report in the Post that Gov. Martin O’Malley toured West Baltimore on Tuesday but was heckled by several people who contend that his zero tolerance policy toward crime as mayor of the city contributed to the riots. What this view will do to his presidential ambitions is anyone’s guess.

EYES ON MARILYN MOSBY: Two years ago, when former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein announced that he would not bring charges against police officers in two high-profile brutality cases, almost all of the reaction and fallout was confined to Baltimore City. But, writes Steve Lash for the Daily Record, with the death of Freddie Gray and Monday’s rioting garnering international attention, all eyes will be on Marilyn Mosby, Bernstein’s successor, whenever she announces whether charges will be filed against any police officers.

ELIJAH CUMMINGS: Sun columnist Dan Rodricks writes, “I don’t know if he could ever stop teenagers from doing stupid and violent things, but, if any man could command attention — and even persuade his fellow citizens to keep the protests of Freddie Gray’s death in the days ahead forceful but peaceful — it’s the 64-year-old congressman who stood front and center to make such a plea Sunday at Bethel AME Church in West. … Elijah E. Cummings has a big voice that streams up from the streets of Baltimore and through his heart.”

Pugh Hogan Cummings

On the street near the burned out CVS, Gov. Larry Hogan talks with Sen. Catherine Pugh and Congressman Elijah Cummings. (From Larry Hogan’s Facebook page.)

FROSH’S DILEMMA: As a state senator, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh advocated for the presentment of arrested individuals before district court commissioners without undue delay. Now, as the state’s top lawyer, he has been called on to decide just how much time the Constitution permits for presentment when a city’s police force is trying to quell a riot, Steve Lash writes in the Daily Record.

LEGGETT, BAKER ON RIOTS: Montgomery and Prince George’s County Executives Ike Leggett and Rushern Baker expressed their anguish Tuesday over the rioting in Baltimore, with one pledging ongoing assistance and the other reflecting on an opportunity lost, reports Bill Turque in the Post.

OBAMA WEIGHS IN: President Barack Obama, addressing the death of Freddie Gray and subsequent riots in Baltimore for the first time, said Tuesday that the nation must “do some soul searching” about underlying causes of poverty and crime in often-overlooked city neighborhoods, writes John Fritze for the Sun.

GANGS, CITY COUNCIL SIDE-BY-SIDE: Self-identified gang members stood with the Baltimore City Council at City Hall Tuesday to call for an end to the violence and rioting that broke out across the city Monday. Luke Broadwater of the Sun reports that a gang member who identified himself as “Trey” wore a red bandana on his arm. He and another self-described gang member, who also wore a red bandana, said they were “against the violence” and prevented stores from being looted.

OFFICERS FROM ELSEWHERE ARRIVE: Jeremy Arias of the Frederick News Post reports that about 30 Frederick County sheriff’s deputies arrived at Mondawmin Mall just after 3 a.m. Tuesday with riot shields and batons to help quell violent protests. What they found when they arrived, however, was a complete contrast to the wanton destruction and chaos broadcast on national media outlets the night before. By midday, crowds of a different type had arrived at the mall; Baltimore residents toting their own brooms and trash bags to pitch in to clean up.

PHOTO GALLERIES: Here are roundups and photo galleries from around the state:

BUSINESSES ON LOSING SIDE: Baltimore City bars, restaurants and clubs are bracing for thousands of dollars in lost sales as a citywide curfew started Tuesday, James Briggs and Sarah Meehan of the Baltimore Business Journal write. “That’s gonna crush us — on top of the fact that nobody’s going to be downtown for a while, so we’re going to lose all kinds of business for that,” said David Niehenke, the owner of Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub in Mount Vernon.

UMES STUDENTS PROTEST: A number of University of Maryland Eastern Shore students lined up on Route 13 near Princess Anne, joining in with protesters across the state in the aftermath of 25-year-old Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore last week. Social media began lighting up with #umes and #blacklivesmatter, with pictures from the scene, reports Phil Davis for the Salisbury Daily Times.

ON BALTIMORE: In a city as divided as Baltimore — where there are a lot of hurt and angry people, writes Sun columnist Dan Rodricks — there remains a lot of hope as well.

  • Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak writes of her encounter  with Sandtown-Winchester, the Baltimore community where Freddie Gray lived and was mortally injured while in police custody. During the early stages of the riot, she was bumped and knocked to the ground and her phone was stolen. “But one boy pushed through the crowd and pulled me up, and another came to my other side. ‘We’ll get your phone back. Come over here.’”

OBAMA AIDE SEEKS VAN HOLLEN’S SEAT: A former Obama administration official who sought a General Assembly seat last year said Tuesday he will run for the U.S. House district being left open by Rep. Chris Van Hollen. John Fritze of the Sun reports that Will Jawando, who worked in the Office of Public Engagement at the White House and also the U.S. Department of Education, is the third candidate — and the only African American so far — to enter the contest for the 8th Congressional District.

About The Author

Cynthia Prairie

[email protected]
https://www.chestertelegraph.org/

Contributing Editor Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor since 1979, when she began working at The Raleigh Times. Since then, she has worked for The Baltimore News American, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Prince George’s Journal and Baltimore County newspapers in the Patuxent Publishing chain, including overseeing The Jeffersonian when it was a two-day a week business publication. Cynthia has won numerous state awards, including the Maryland State Bar Association’s Gavel Award. Besides compiling and editing the daily State Roundup, she runs her own online newspaper, The Chester Telegraph. If you have additional questions or comments contact Cynthia at: [email protected]

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