Politics

The hallway was lined with sharply dressed Black women, awaiting the new administration’s first cabinet meeting. Who are they, the deputy fire chief wondered that December day in 2018. She had attended such sessions for eight years, but had never seen the foyer look like this. As the women took their seats at the table, she read their names and titles. These women, she realized, were in charge.

For years, the families of Anton Black, Karreem Ali and Tyrone West have tried to get someone — anyone — to listen. They filed lawsuits, held vigils and investigated, all in hopes of making people take another look at former Maryland Chief Medical Examiner David Fowler’s conclusion that police weren’t responsible for their loved ones’ deaths. Earlier this month, Fowler testified that the Minnesota police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes had nothing to do with Floyd’s death. Fowler blamed carbon monoxide, drug use, a heart condition and other factors, contradicting other medical experts in the trial who said there was no question that former Officer Derek Chauvin killed Floyd.

Maryland’s Senate president told the House speaker that the legislature couldn’t wait any longer. Lawmakers should pass the police-accountability bills quickly, he said, so they’d have enough time to override expected vetoes from Gov. Larry Hogan (R). But after 10 months of work on the issue and nationwide protests, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) wasn’t having it.

Prince George’s public defender Stanford Fraser will be challenging incumbent Aisha Braveboy in the Democratic primary for state’s attorney next year, running on a platform of prosecutorial reform that he says is informed by his “experiences firsthand with mass incarceration.” Fraser, 29, was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands but grew up in Prince George’s County. He joined the public defender’s office in 2017, after earning his undergraduate degree at Howard University and his law degree from Harvard University.

Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) unexpectedly announced the departure of two of her top public safety officials Friday after news broke that a veteran police officer with the force had been charged in federal court with tax evasion related to his private security business that employs other off-duty police. Alsobrooks said in a news release that she had asked for and accepted the resignation of Mark Magaw, a former police chief and the current deputy chief administrative officer for public safety and homeland security.