Maryland
Maryland Democrats Threaten Funding of Immigrant Rights Group That Called for Gaza Ceasefire
A group of Democratic state senators in Maryland is threatening to strip state funding for an immigrant rights group after it called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and condemned the “utilization of US tax dollars to promote the ongoing violence.”
The nine lawmakers who represent Montgomery County — Maryland’s most populous county — said in a statement on Wednesday that the remarks by CASA were “hurtful, divisive, and antisemitic.”
CASA is a Maryland-based advocacy organization that also provides services for the state’s immigrant communities, and it receives millions of dollars from the state and local governments to do that work. The Democratic delegation, whose members sit on influential committees in the state legislature, suggested that it may cease state support for the organization. “This might be an appropriate time to reevaluate the state’s mechanism for providing financial aid and support to our immigrant community,” the senators wrote. “More specifically, we must ensure that public funds are not being used to promote antisemitism and Jewish hate.”
The Democrats’ threat follows actions by other state and federal officials urging crackdowns against those supportive of the Palestinian people and critical of Israel’s war on Gaza. Sen. Josh Hawley led a resolution condemning “radical student organizations” protesting on college campuses, while Sen. Tom Cotton called to deport foreign nationals deemed to be in support of Hamas. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, meanwhile, has opened an investigation into a pro-Palestinian nonprofit, while students and employees across the country have faced professional retaliation for their support of Palestine.
“The systematic targeting and silencing of organizations and individuals advocating for a ceasefire and an end to the occupation needs to stop,” said Yasmine Taeb, legislative and political director at MPower Change Action Fund, a Muslim-led justice organization. “It’s particularly shameful for Montgomery County state senators to attempt to silence CASA, an organization fighting on behalf of our immigrant communities, by threatening to withhold their funding.”
The saga in Maryland began with a statement CASA released on Monday, expressing “resolute and steadfast solidarity with the people of Palestine” and calling for an “immediate ceasefire to save all precious life and halt the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”
The statement, signed by CASA Executive Director Gustavo Torres, condemned Hamas’s attack on October 7 and rejected the notion that any violence could justify Israel’s attacks of “terror,” including the targeting of refugee camps and medical and United Nations aid workers.
The group, which was founded by activists who opposed U.S. interference in Latin America, also noted its strong support for decolonization and for Indigenous and historically colonized people. “The Palestinian struggle mirrors our own; with many CASA members fleeing governments and countries wrecked by the damage of US economic and political intervention.”
The organization also posted a series of tweets mirroring the language in the statement. CASA faced swift pushback, including from Montgomery County Council Vice President Andrew Friedson, who called the statement “inflammatory and inaccurate” and urged the group to retract it.
The group deleted the statement and the tweets on the same day it issued them and posted an apology. “We write to acknowledge that our words have caused hurt,” CASA tweeted. “We have received feedback from our dear and trusted partners, who have expressed their concerns about the impact of our language.”
Torres expressed similar sentiments in an interview with The Intercept, saying that the group feels “horrendous” about hurting Jewish community members, some of whom they have worked with for years.
He said CASA maintains its support for a ceasefire and that the group will have a new statement in the days to come. The group hopes to communicate that it is for peace, that it denounces the killing of civilians by both Hamas and the Israeli government, and that Palestine deserves self-determination, as Israel deserves a democratic state with security.
Torres said he has spoken with some of the senators and believes that they do not want to cut funding for CASA’s basic services, including workforce development and English and computer classes. “I hope that that is not their intention. And I hope that they are going to analyze better the statement they make about that.”
According to CASA’s 2021 tax filings, the group received $4.89 million in government grants and another $11.3 million in government contracts, out of its total $25.7 million in revenue.
In their letter, the senators wrote that they “have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with CASA to support Montgomery County’s values,” and that Hamas represents the antithesis of those values.” They also decried CASA’s “inflammatory posting of a sign that reads ‘From the River to the Sea,’” referring to a picture of a protest sign that CASA had posted on Instagram and later deleted. The slogan, which has become a lightning rod in the political discourse about Israel and Gaza, has long been used by Palestinians to refer to their aspirations for freedom and equality.
The Democrats said CASA — which opened its statement by condemning the Hamas attack — overlooked the militants’ efforts to kill Jews. Their letter made no mention of the over 10,000 Palestinian casualties of Israel’s retaliatory war on Gaza.
In a statement on Thursday, state Delegate Gabriel Acevero shot back against his Senate counterparts, saying he was “disgusted” by the delegation’s threats. “Let me be very clear, I will call out and fight any attempt by any Democrat in Annapolis to target resources for new Americans,” he wrote. “I don’t tolerate xenophobia from Republicans, and I won’t tolerate it from Democrats. I am calling on the Montgomery County Senate Delegation to retract the insensitive letter they authored and rethink how they communicate with our community, and their constituents.”
The nine Maryland Democrats who signed the letter are:
Benjamin Kramer
Ariana Kelly
Brian Feldman
Katie Fry Hester
Cheryl Kagan
Nancy King
William Smith
Jeff Waldstreicher
Craig Zucker
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.)
Maryland
Chilly start to the week before warmup in Maryland
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Maryland
No. 10 Maryland men’s soccer falls to No. 1 Ohio State, 2-1, in regular season finale
Weeks ago, it seemed likely Maryland men’s soccer’s regular season would end with it hoisting the Big Ten regular season trophy on Ludwig Field. The trophy was hoisted at Ludwig Field Sunday afternoon — but the Terps were the spectators.
“We take a lot of pride in protecting Ludwig and obviously seeing [No. 1 Ohio State’s celebration] is not a great sight, but definitely something we’ll remember,” Max Rogers said.
The Terps failed to overcome two first-half goals, falling to the Buckeyes, 2-1, to close their regular season.
Maryland, who has been without its most important player in Leon Koehl, was even more depleted against Ohio State. Its defensive anchor, William Kulvik, missed the match, likely due to the head collision he sustained at the end of its last match against Rutgers. If that wasn’t enough, head coach Sasho Cirovski was serving a suspension for the red card he received against Rutgers.
The undermanned Terps started strong, though, applying pressure that caused Ohio State’s back four some issues. The Terps generated offensive chances throughout the first 15 minutes, but couldn’t find the net.
Ohio State won a set piece around midfield with 30 minutes remaining in the first half. Its most dangerous playmaker, Michael Adedokun, played a ball into Maryland’s box that Siggi Magnusson played back across the middle for Thomas Gilej, who then tapped it in.
Against the run of play, Maryland found itself down, 1-0. The game remained high-paced and appeared open for both teams to find the second goal.
Maryland almost had a chance to even the score when Sadam Masereka went down in the box, but the referee judged there was not enough contact for a spot kick after a review.
Instead, with around 11 minutes left in the half, Maryland’s deficit doubled. Adedokun picked up the ball on Maryland’s goal line and beat a man. Jace Clark made a tackle, but the ball bounced back in Adedokun’s path and he found Ashton Bilow for an easy tap-in.
The Terps generated more chances in the final 10 minutes of the half, but couldn’t find the net. They went to the break trailing, 2-0.
“Goals change games, but I thought we played very well in the first half. I thought we could have shown a bit more quality in our chances to score, but the guys executed how we wanted them to,” acting head coach Brian Rowland said.
In the second half, the Terps’ luck quickly took a turn for the better.
Rogers had a free kick from the right sideline and surprisingly decided to go for goal. The decision paid off, as Ohio State backup goalie Patrick McLaughlin spilled the shot for a rebound that fell to Luca Costabile, who drilled his first goal as a Terp to pull Maryland within one.
“Great feeling,” Costabile said. “[It’s] been three years now, long wait.”
The Terps had around 40 minutes to find an equalizer — and it was chaotic.
Colin Griffith teed off shots with space from inside the box on two occasions, but Ohio State’s back line made multiple crucial blocks to keep the game at 2-1. Clark also shined in relief of Kulvik, making key defensive interventions to prevent Maryland from conceding a third goal.
Ultimately, the score remained 2-1, with Maryland heading into the postseason on a three-game losing streak.
Three things to know
1. A not-so-bad loss. Many coaches will say there are no good losses. But if Ohio State was a measuring stick for how far Maryland can go in the postseason, it played well without its head coach and two of its best players.
“That was a very, very good soccer team,” Rogers said. “It didn’t feel like they were head and shoulders better than us.”
2. Big Ten tournament seed finalized. The Terps will be the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and play either Washington or UCLA in the first round on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. They will need to win three games to win the tournament.
3. Set-piece defense remains an issue. Maryland has struggled with its defense on set pieces all season. This issue reared its head again on Ohio State’s opening goal, as Maryland failed to win the ball twice in the box.
-
Sports1 week ago
Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam gives Dodgers Game 1 World Series win vs. Yankees
-
News1 week ago
Sikh separatist, targeted once for assassination, says India still trying to kill him
-
Culture1 week ago
Freddie Freeman wallops his way into World Series history with walk-off slam that’ll float forever
-
Technology1 week ago
When a Facebook friend request turns into a hacker’s trap
-
Business3 days ago
Carol Lombardini, studio negotiator during Hollywood strikes, to step down
-
Health4 days ago
Just Walking Can Help You Lose Weight: Try These Simple Fat-Burning Tips!
-
Business2 days ago
Hall of Fame won't get Freddie Freeman's grand slam ball, but Dodgers donate World Series memorabilia
-
Business7 days ago
Will Newsom's expanded tax credit program save California's film industry?