Maryland
Maryland AG Decries 'Creepy' Voting 'Report Cards'
People who have been receiving so-called “Voting Report Cards” in the mail are not happy about them, and now Maryland’s attorney general is warning the letters may violate state law. The “report cards,” millions of which were sent out according to CBS News, tell the addressee that public records show they are eligible to vote. “Remember, who you vote for is private, but whether or not you voted is public record,” the letters say. “We’re sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to share who does and does not vote in an effort to promote election participation.” What follows is a record of whether the addressee voted in recent elections, as well as redacted information about whether their neighbors voted, the Baltimore Sun reports. Residents of other states have received the letters as well.
The letters have been called “creepy,” “threatening,” and “intimidating,” the Washington Post reports. Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown recently sent cease-and-desist letters to the two nonprofit groups sending out the letters, the Voter Participation Center and the Center for Voter Information, which are connected to one another (and are run by a longtime Democratic operative, though the groups claim to be nonpartisan). Brown warns in the letters that Maryland law prohibits “inappropriate attempts to compel voting behavior.” A senior official for the groups pushed back in a statement to the Post, saying, “It is not ‘intimidating’ or ‘threatening’ to promote voting by discussing neighborhood participation rates and stating that the records will be reviewed after the election to determine whether the recipient joined their neighbors in voting.” The groups insist such movements have previously driven voter turnout.
Meanwhile, in Texas, residents have reported receiving intimidating messages of a different sort, the Austin American-Statesman and Fortune report. “Greetings! YOU have been identified and are now in our National Database of miscreant Harris supporters, either by social interactions with your neighbors who are on our investigations team, or by yard signs, or vehicle bumper stickers,” read flyers that have been left on Kamala Harris yard signs. “Rather than the hangman’s noose of the old days, you are now guaranteed that once the magnificent Donald Trump assumes the Presidency again YOU will be IRS tax audited going all the way back to your very first tax return—and at a minimum—4 years of painful misery and attorney’s fees.” They are signed as being from the “Grand Dragon of Trump Klan #124,” but it is not clear if they are related to the KKK. Authorities are investigating. (More Election 2024 stories.)
Advocacy groups are raising concerns over a warehouse in Washington County that is slated to become an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility after dozens of black SUVs were moved to the warehouse’s parking lot on Sunday.
“When federal enforcement vehicles begin lining the warehouse lot, it sends a clear message about what’s taking shape in our community,” said the organizer of Hagerstown Rapid Response, Claire Connor. “We refuse to let ICE quietly plant roots in Washington County without transparency, accountability and community consent.”
The 825,620-square-foot warehouse is located at 16220 Wright Road in Williamsport. Access to the facility was blocked by orange traffic barriers and signs outlining regulations and “governing conduct on federal property” with the Department of Homeland Security emblem at the top of the page.
In late January, Washington County issued a news release stating that on Jan. 14, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent a letter to the county’s historic district commission and department of planning and zoning regarding the property.
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Read the full story on the Baltimore Sun’s website.
COLUMBIA, Md. (WBFF) — An adult man was killed in a police-involved shooting in Columbia early Sunday, prompting an investigation by the Maryland Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division.
Howard County police said officers were called on March 1, at about 12:09 a.m., to an apartment building in the 6400 block of Freetown Road for a report that involved an adult male threatening to harm himself.
According to police, at about 12:22 a.m., officers encountered the man outside the building. The man approached officers while holding a knife and ignored commands to drop the weapon, police said. Officers then shot the man.
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Officers attempted life-saving measures, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. Officersrecovered a knife near the man.
No officers were injured, and the officers were equipped with body-worn cameras.
The Independent Investigations Division is investigating.
Anyone with information about this incident, including cell phone or private surveillance video, is asked to contact the IID at (410) 576–7070 or by email atIID@oag.maryland.gov.
The IID willgenerally releasethe name of the decedent and any involved officers within two business days of the incident, although that period may be extended, if necessary,pursuant toIID protocol.
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TheIID willgenerally releasebody-worn camera footage within 20 business days of an incident. There may be situations where more than 20 days is necessary, including if investigators need more time to complete witness interviews, if there are technical delays caused by the need to shield the identities of civilian witnesses, or to allow family members to view the video before it is released to the public.
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