Northeast
African American groups call for ditching 'racist' Francis Scott Key, naming new bridge after late congressman
A coalition of African American groups in Maryland is pushing for Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge to be renamed once reconstructed over what they say is racism connected to Key’s legacy.
The Caucus of African American Leaders of Anne Arundel County recently voted unanimously to call for changing the names of two bridges in Maryland, including the Key Bridge, and will lobby Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and the state’s Democrat-controlled General Assembly on the proposal, the Baltimore Banner first reported Tuesday. The bridge collapsed in late March when a cargo ship struck a support beam.
The coalition includes groups such as an NAACP chapter and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, which wants the replacement bridge to be renamed in honor of the late Rep. Parren Mitchell, the first African American elected to the U.S. House from the state of Maryland. Mitchell was also a civil rights pioneer as the first Black graduate student admitted to the University of Maryland.
MARYLAND GOVERNOR TO DISCUSS REBUILDING COLLAPSED BALTIMORE BRIDGE WITH CONGRESS
A coalition of African American groups is pushing Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on changing the name of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. (Getty Images)
When asked about the proposal, Moore told Fox News Digital that he remains “laser-focused on providing closure to these families, clearing the channel, and rebuilding the bridge.”
However, the Baltimore Banner said that Moore told reporters on Monday that he thinks there will “be a time for that” conservation later.
A spokesperson for the Caucus of African American Leaders told Fox News Digital they believe “public structures and buildings that taxpayers pay for shouldn’t be named in honor of people who owned slaves.”
Their issue with the bridge keeping its name after Key, the author of the national anthem, stems from his “legacy” being clouded with “accusations of racism,” the Baltimore Banner wrote.
The Banner noted that Key, an attorney by profession, purchased enslaved people but also represented some Black Marylanders in court who sued for their freedom.
MARYLAND’S RISING STAR DEM GOVERNOR FACES FIRST NATIONAL TEST AFTER BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE
An Oil on Panel portrait of Francis Scott Key (fragment). Attributed to Joseph Wood (1778-1830). Collection of the Walters Art Museum. (Public Domain)
They also quote Key as having said Black Americans are “a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community,” which has received pushback as an “erroneous” quote from the Star Spangled Banner Foundation.
“A racist quote attributed to Francis Scott Key, the author of the lyrics to ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ has been circulating in news articles and blog posts,” the foundation wrote in 2020. “Incorrectly credited to Key as a first-person expression of his attitudes about race in the United States, the quote asserts that free Blacks are “a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community.”
“The quote is taken from page 40 of Jefferson Morley’s generally insightful 2012 book Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835),” the foundation continued. “Morley, in turn, cites as his sole source a quote in the 1937 biography Francis Scott Key: Life and Times by Edward S. Delaplaine. This biography is the source of confusion as to the quote’s speaker.”
A section of the damaged and collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge is seen in the Baltimore port, Monday, April 1, 2024. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner via AP)
Conservatives on social media previously speculated about a possible push to rename the Key Bridge once it is eventually rebuilt, due to past efforts to “cancel” the famed attorney and poet and a news article hinting at his “controversial” past.
“Baltimore obviously won’t rename the new bridge after Francis Scott Key again,” GOP Rep. Mike Collins posted on X responding to the bridge collapsing.
“So, any guesses on the new bridge name?”
WASHINGTON POST HITS ‘CONTROVERSIAL POET’ FRANCIS SCOTT KEY AFTER NAMESAKE BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSES
“What do you bet, that when the Francis Scott Key Bridge is rebuilt, there will be a major push to rename the bridge?” Texas Public Policy Foundation Chief National Initiatives Officer Chuck DeVore posted on X.
Others on social media also previously pointed to an article from The Associated Press suggesting that it was the beginning of an attempt to frame the conversation around Key’s past.
The campaigns of Rep. David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, Democrats seeking the party nomination for U.S. Senate, did not respond to a request for comment on the proposal by the time of publication.
Republican Maryland Senate candidate Larry Hogan’s campaign likewise did not provide a comment on the proposal.
Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a former NAACP president whose U.S. House district includes the Key Bridge, also did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
Read the full article from Here
“Do we accept the idea that innocent, loving partners and loving and devoted fathers of 3-year-olds can be collateral damage to this government’s policies? Do we agree that this is just an acceptable cost of doing business?” Gideon said. “We truly believe that people need to understand what the real costs are.”
“I want to be clear about something. Johan Sebastián, before he was shot to death, had been accused of committing no crime. He was in this country lawfully, and he was following a lawful process that’s prescribed by our federal government,” the attorney said, adding that Durán had been issued a work permit and a Social Security number under the Trump administration.
ICE has said it was conducting “targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal” around 7 a.m. Monday, an agency spokesperson said.
“The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon,” the ICE spokesperson said.
Durán, who was born and raised in Bucaramanga, Colombia, had come to the U.S. in 2023 to seek better opportunities for him and his family, relatives said.
A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security told NBC News in an email that Durán “illegally entered the United States” through the southern border nearly three years ago “and was released into the country under the Biden Administration.”
Entering the U.S. without proper authorization is a misdemeanor, but living in the country without legal permission is a civil violation and not a criminal offense.
At work, and everywhere he went, Durán carried an infectious joy, Rojas said.
As a father, he was devoted. Aside from working cleaning and delivery jobs to provide for his family, he took their daughter, Dulce — or “gordita” (chubby) as he lovingly called her — to the park every afternoon, Rojas said.
Durán always indulged his little girl whenever she had a craving for nuggets and fries, Rojas said, adding he would often marvel in tears every time he realized his daughter “was getting bigger.”
Rojas recalled a conversation she had with Durán a few months ago, wondering who their little girl would grow up to be. Durán said he would have a hard time sending off his daughter to school for the first time, she said.
Dulce now asks for her father every night, Rojas said, breaking down in tears. “And I don’t have the strength to tell her that dad isn’t coming, that she can’t give him a hug and tell him ‘I love you.’”
Gideon said that “there will come a time when those responsible for Johan Sebastián’s needless death will have to answer for what they did. But today is not that day. … Today is about Johan Sebastián and who he was as a person.”
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Springfield bankruptcy attorney Andrea M. O’Connor has been named to the 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list.
According to the firm, Andrea M. O’Connor of Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., has been named to the 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the Bankruptcy: Consumer practice area, marking the fourth consecutive year she has received the recognition.
O’Connor’s practice draws on experience representing both debtors and creditors, serving as a Chapter 7 trustee and clerking for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. The firm said she develops legal strategies tailored to her clients’ individual needs and goals.
O’Connor graduated magna cum laude from Western New England University School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Western New England Law Review. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as before the U.S. District Courts for Massachusetts and Connecticut, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Beyond her legal practice, O’Connor serves as chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the Hampden County Bar Association and is co-chair of both the Western Massachusetts Bankruptcy Conference and the MCLE Bankruptcy Conference. She also serves on committees for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Before earning placement on the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list from 2023 through 2026, O’Connor was recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star each year from 2019 through 2022.
Super Lawyers is a peer-reviewed attorney rating service that recognizes lawyers in more than 70 practice areas. The organization says its selection process includes attorney nominations, independent research and peer evaluations.
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
New Hampshire
JUST ONE STATION: Father of Hampton, NH shooting victim speaks about ‘random act of violence’ – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
TEWKSBURY, MASS. (WHDH) – The father of a 23-year-old man who was shot in a random attack at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire before the shooter turned the gun on himself spoke with 7NEWS Thursday about his son’s recovery.
On July 5, officers responded to a reported shooting in the area of 29 Ocean Boulevard at approximately 1:20 a.m. and found a 23-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman suffering from gunshot wounds, according to a joint statement issued by Attorney General John M. Formella, New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall, and Hampton Police Department Chief Alexander J. Reno. Both were taken to a nearby hospital.
Robert Perault said his son Chase was shot three times while he was walking with his 25-year-old girlfriend at the beach.
“Bullet was lodged in his left arm, and then two in the lungs,” Perault said. “It just blows your mind that this happens. I can’t explain any other way, it’s just a random act of violence.”
Soon after, at the intersection of P Street and Ashworth Avenue, officers encountered the suspect, Tyshawn Cooper, 21, of Taylors, South Carolina, who pulled a handgun, raised it, and shot himself in the head as an officer fired at him, officials said. Cooper was a sailor in the United States Navy.
After an autopsy, Cooper’s cause of death was determined to be suicide.
Perault said his son and his girlfriend have both been released from the hospital but are continuing to recover from their injuries.
“The fact that he was threatening, so they say, people – to shoot somebody prior to that was kind of an indication that this was something going on,” Perault said.
He said his biggest questions are what Cooper was doing with the gun, and how he got the gun in the first place. He said he has received “not a word” from the Navy in the wake of the attack.
Chase graduated from Tewksbury High School, loves fishing, and now works in construction with his father. Perault said his son has only had one question on his mind since he first woke up at the hospital.
“‘Why did he shoot us?’ That was the very first thing to come out of his mouth,” Perault said.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
-
Hawaii1 minute agoNew Honolulu police chief plans to launch drone program to help catch crime
-
Idaho7 minutes agoBoating, beaches, and mountain scenery: Escape to this bright blue Idaho reservoir
-
Illinois13 minutes ago
Illinois awards AD Josh Whitman a new contract worth more than $31 million over the next 10 years
-
Indiana19 minutes agoWATCH | Drone video captures Big Boy rolling through Northwest Indiana
-
Iowa25 minutes agoJaylen Raynor Wisely Predicted To Be Starting Quarterback for Iowa State Football
-
Kansas31 minutes ago
Chiefs Name Burns & McDonnell as Owner’s Representative for New Practice Facility and Headquarters in Olathe
-
Kentucky37 minutes agoSaturated soil raises flooding risk across Kentucky after recent heavy rain
-
Louisiana43 minutes agoWhy Louisiana is one of the most mosquito infested states in the US
