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April 10, 2021

The Chestertown Spy

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Top Story

Md. Police Head to D.C. as Armed Mob Storms U.S. Capitol

January 6, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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Maryland police have been deployed to Washington, D.C., in an effort to restore order after an armed mob stormed the U.S. Capitol Wednesday as Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) tweeted around 3:45 p.m. that the Maryland State Police would deploy troopers to the capital and that the Maryland National Guard’s adjutant general is calling up a rapid response force to assist.

“All Americans should be outraged by this attack on our nation’s Capitol,” Hogan said in a statement. “This is a heinous and violent assault on the heart of our democracy. I will not stand for this, and neither should any American.”

Montgomery County Police teams were also on the Capitol grounds Wednesday afternoon.

 

Shortly after the Congress began the process to certify the results of the November 2020 election, the Capitol building was breached and lawmakers were evacuated to safer locations.

 

Hours earlier, President Trump addressed supporters at an outdoor rally and encouraged them to march to the U.S. Capitol.

His actions and rhetoric were condemned by Maryland lawmakers.

 

 

 

“This is a very sad day for our country,” Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D) tweeted. “Mr. President, tell your supporters to stand down before someone gets seriously hurt.”

Earlier in the day, Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D) had spoken on the House floor against objections to certify the election results from Arizona.

“There were repeated efforts to barrel into the Capitol chamber,” Raskin said on CSPAN.

After the death of his son on New Year’s Eve, Raskin, a Constitutional law scholar, said he’d brought his daughter and son-in-law to D.C. with him on Wednesday to be together and witness “the peaceful transfer of power in the United States of America.”

“So what was really going through my mind was their safety because they were not with me in the chamber. And I just wanted to make sure that we could get back together,” Raskin said.

In the hours after the attack on the Capitol, Raskin said lawmakers were devoted to concluding the Electoral College vote count.

“Every single member I’ve spoken to is absolutely determined to have us complete the counting of the Electoral College votes as is demanded of us by the 12th Amendment of the Constitution. And everyone is absolutely determined that we will continue with the normal proceedings of the U.S. Congress and that any violent insurrection against the government of the United States will be put down and our Constitutional democracy will prevail,” he said.

“…We are going to go forward. If we’ve got to stay here all night, we’re going to go forward. If we’ve got to stay here all day tomorrow we’re going to go forward. And the next day,” Raskin said. “We are going to complete the counting of the Electoral College votes. We are going to swear in the new president of the United States.”

PBS News’ Lisa Desjardins reported late Wednesday afternoon that House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D) was in a safe location, as well as many other members of Congress.

The Capital Gazette reported that a spokesman confirmed Rep. John Sarbanes was safe.

The Maryland congressional delegation’s lone Republican, Rep. Andrew P. Harris, had joined efforts to object to the Electoral College certification. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the only way he’d publicly addressed the attack on social media was by retweeting Trump’s statements.

Hours after the storming of the Capitol commenced, Trump issued a video telling the protesters, “We love you.” But — after reiterating his baseless claims that the election was stolen from him — Trump urged calm.

“Go home, we love you, you’re very special,” he said.

At 4 p.m., Biden said the demonstrators’ actions bordered on sedition.

By Danielle E. Gaines

Filed Under: Top Story Tagged With: breach, donald trump, Gov. Larry Hogan, maryland state police, mob, U.S. Capitol, violence

State Police Deploys Troopers to Quash Super-Spreader Events Over the Holiday

November 25, 2020 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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As the state’s COVID-19 positivity rate climbs higher and  the holiday season approaches, public health officials are pleading with Marylanders to skip large gatherings — and are throwing extra muscle behind the effort.

“The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is often a night where kids come home from college. They go out to bars to drink and socialize before then celebrating the holiday — sometimes with older family members,” Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) said at a news conference Monday. “I cannot stress enough how reckless that behavior would be this year.“

Because of this Thanksgiving’s unusual circumstances, Hogan is deploying state and local police departments to ensure that reckless behavior remains in check.

In addition to the traditional ramped-up policing efforts that come with the holiday season, Hogan has launched a “wide-scale, all-hands-on-deck compliance, education and enforcement operation,” deploying extra state police officers to each of the 24 jurisdictions to respond to local complaints and quash any super-spreader events.

These extra units will be deployed to high-traffic and popular areas in each county beginning Wednesday evening.

As of Tuesday morning, Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley did not know the exact number of excess troopers to be deployed but said that some of them will be working overtime and others will be officers who are already scheduled to be at DUI checkpoints and conducting other extra enforcement duties traditionally performed around the holidays.

Units have already been scheduled to deploy in high-traffic areas in Baltimore City and Harford, Montgomery, Baltimore and Wicomico counties.

“However, in each county, troopers will be prepared to respond to calls related to COVID prevention,” Shipley said.

But it won’t be state police alone.

Calvert County Assistant Sheriff Dave McDowell said that local police agencies in his county will largely serve in supporting roles to the Maryland State Police.

“We’re not going to drive around looking for [violations], but if a deputy is somewhere and they see a large gathering, of course they’re going to inquire,” McDowell said. “We have a responsibility ― like everyone else in this community ― to do what we can to stop the spread of this virus.”

McDowell said the sheriff’s office receives occasional calls about noncompliance with the governor’s public health orders, but for the most part residents and businesses are abiding by the guidance.

Shipley said that state troopers’ first priority is voluntary compliance, stating that the objective is to contact business owners to work towards that goal.

“If further action is necessary, it will be taken in coordination with local health officials, local law enforcement and the state’s attorney in that jurisdiction,” he said.

Policing of private homes?

At his news conference this week, Hogan said that 57% of registered COVID-19 noncompliance complaints stem from restaurants, bars and retail businesses.

“Especially now, it is critically important that we stay vigilant in this fight,” he stressed. “We can’t let a few bad actors spoil it for the others who have been doing such a great job.”

As such, Shipley said that the state’s focus is not on policing homes “where a large turkey has been purchased.

“Rather, it will be on establishments that have large numbers of people gathered, which some might describe as having ‘super-spreader’ potential,” he said.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler (R) is of the same mindset.

“We’re not going to be charging people if they have 12 people over for Thanksgiving dinner,” he said. “We’re not going to be doing any policing of people’s private homes.”

In fact, Gahler said he was just talking to the state’s attorney to see if there was anything in Hogan’s crowd size order that would lead to a criminal charge if there were violations — they decided that there probably weren’t.

But Gahler said he was preparing his deputies for possible calls about crowd sizes, even neighbors calling about neighbors, since that’s what Hogan requested.

“We go to everything,” he said of calls the department responds to. “If there’s a dog with a broken toe nail, we respond. What we do when getting these calls is another matter.”

Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins (R) said that his department also won’t be monitoring large gatherings in people’s homes, and encourages “people not to be concerned about what other households chose to do.”

“This whole issue of people calling in violations on each other creates a backlash of anger and potentially volatile situations between neighbors and families,” said Jenkins. “These types of actions are fueling the anger and resentment. The public has been repeatedly told what the recommendations and best practices are, and at this point to continue drilling these orders into the population may be doing more harm than good.”

Gahler said that since the pandemic, his department has arrested two people for violating travel restrictions in March, along with the person who refused to put on a mask during early voting. That’s been it so far.

But not all noncompliance calls are as nonviolent.

Hogan said at the Monday press conference that Anne Arundel County Police made arrests when several individuals who refused to wear masks assaulted two Coldstone Creamery employees in Edgewater.

“They will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Hogan stated.

Education is key

“There are penalties [for breaking the compliance orders], but at this time, we’ve been advised to not put any charges against the violators,”  Capt. John Bollinger, the  administrative commander of Talbot County Sheriff’s Office, said, adding that county residents have been complying so far.

Talbot County officers who respond to complaints about possible violations to COVID-19 restrictions are to follow up with the local health department.

If law enforcement and rowdy business owners can’t reach voluntary compliance in Worcester County, the complaint is referred to Kristen Heiser (R), the state’s attorney.

But Worcester County Sheriff Matthew Crisafulli (R) said that voluntary compliance through education is his preferred tactic.

“We strive to help our businesses and residents understand the impact of this pandemic,” he told Maryland Matters in an email. “The guided education has worked well in our county.”

According to Charles County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Diane Richardson, COVID-19 education has also been a successful plan of attack.

“Overall, almost everyone we have had contact with regarding these types of calls have been very positive and responsive with no action needed,” she said in a statement. “As in the past, each case will be handled according to what we find once we are on the scene. Our primary focus is the safety of the community.”

Jessica Milligan, the public information officer for the Queen Anne’s County Office of the Sheriff, said the department has seen very few complaints and is proud of its residents for their compliance.

Lt. Michael Holmes of the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office said the county also sees a high level of voluntary compliance. The agency has received “virtually no” calls about pandemic-related violations lately, Holmes said.

Over the holiday weekend, “if a deputy sees something on patrol and feels like they need to take action, they will,” Holmes said. “…If we are contacted, we will go out and investigate and take action if necessary.”

By Hannah Gaskill. Reporters Bruce DePuyt, Danielle E. Gaines, Josh Kurtz, Bennett Leckrone and Elizabeth Shwe contributed to this report.

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: bars, compliance, coronavirus, Covid-19, enforcement, maryland state police, restaurants, retail, super-spreader

Citing COVID Surge, Hogan Announces ‘Wide-Scale’ Police Enforcement Efforts Over Holiday

November 24, 2020 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) is cracking down on individuals and businesses who don’t follow public health orders as COVID-19 surges in Maryland, and announced Monday that state police will launch a “wide-scale” enforcement operation as Thanksgiving approaches.

At a Monday afternoon press conference, Hogan said he’s deploying additional state troopers in all of Maryland’s counties and the city of Baltimore to enforce public health mandates. He said the state troopers will deploy “high visibility compliance units” in popular downtown areas across the state ― including Baltimore, Bel Air, Towson, Salisbury and Silver Spring― to keep an eye on crowds and social distancing.

He noted that Thanksgiving is a time when many travel home and traditionally head to bars with friends and families, but described pub-crawling during the pandemic as “reckless.”

State troopers will step up enforcement efforts on Wednesday and Thursday in addition to their normal push to combat drunk driving during the holiday, although they will also help local governments with pandemic-related enforcement going forward.

Hogan’s announcement came less than a week after he issued a slew of restrictions in response to the massive surge of coronavirus cases. Those restrictions include limiting the hours for indoor dining and reducing capacity for many indoor businesses to 50%.

He believes the vast majority of Marylanders are following public health guidelines, masking up in public and avoiding large gatherings, but warned that a few lax businesses or individuals could worsen the pandemic for everyone.

Hogan slammed businesses and residents who don’t comply with public health orders, charging that they are putting their entire communities at risk by flouting masks and having large gatherings.

“We can’t let a few bad actors spoil it for the others who’ve been doing such a great job,” Hogan said. “We cannot afford all the progress that we’ve made together against this virus.”

While the state has an additional 6,000 hospital beds as part of its surge plan, Hogan warned that some hospitals in Western Maryland are already at capacity.

An additional 29 hospitals are nearing their capacity, Hogan said, although the Department of Health has issued an order allowing hospitals nearing their full capacity to transfer patients to hospitals with vacancies.

The state has seen 19 straight days with more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19, with another 1,658 new cases in a 24-hour period as of Monday afternoon. The state’s 7-day positivity rate was 6.88% as of Monday, Hogan said.

Maryland reported an additional 14 confirmed COVID-19 deaths Monday morning, bringing the total since March to 4,293.

Hogan was joined by Baltimore County Executive John “Johnny O” Olszewski, Jr (D), who said he plans on using his full authority to crack down on compliance around Thanksgiving. He warned that anyone found in violation of state or local health orders will face consequences.

“These rules are in place to save lives,” Olszewski said. “If you are found violating them, you will be held accountable.”

Baltimore County’s social distancing task force has conducted thousands of inspections during the pandemic, Olszewski said, and has found more than 300 violations. He said county officials have cited and even shut down businesses that don’t comply with health orders.

Maryland State Police are operating a 24-hour hotline for residents to report health order violations, Hogan said. Marylanders can report potential violations to (833) 979-2266 or send an email to Prevent.Covid@maryland.gov.

By Bennett Leckrone

Filed Under: COVID-19, Maryland News Tagged With: coronavirus, Covid-19, enforcement, Gov. Larry Hogan, Health, Hogan, maryland state police, pandemic

Suspect Who Was Shot by Trooper is Charged with Assault

April 5, 2020 by Spy Desk

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After consultation with the Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney, Maryland State Police investigators have charged the driver of a pickup who allegedly dragged a state trooper before being shot by that trooper early Saturday morning during a traffic stop in Queen Anne’s County.

Deny R. Coursey

The suspect is identified as Deny R. Coursey, 44, of Centreville. Coursey was charged Saturday afternoon with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, fleeing and eluding police, violation of the Governor’s Executive Order, obstructing and hindering, and reckless driving. He is being held without bond at the Queen Anne’s County Detention Center.

The trooper is a four-year-veteran of the Maryland State Police. He is assigned to road patrol duties at the Centreville Barrack.

Coursey was flown by a Maryland State Police helicopter Saturday morning to the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center where he was treated for a gunshot wound. Coursey was released from the hospital Saturday afternoon and taken into custody by state police investigators who returned him to the Centreville Barrack where he was later charged.

The trooper injured Saturday morning was also treated at Shock Trauma. He was released earlier Saturday and will be recovering from his injuries at home.

The preliminary investigation indicates that shortly before 3:00 a.m. Saturday, the trooper was on patrol in the area of the 1000-block of Rolph’s Wharf Road, near Chestertown. He stopped a suspicious vehicle in the area of the marina and called in a description of a 2001 Chevrolet truck.

Minutes later, the trooper called for backup. When units arrived, they found the trooper lying along the roadside and saw the suspect vehicle was not at the scene.

The investigation indicates the trooper approached the truck on the passenger side and contacted the driver and sole occupant, later identified as Coursey. While talking with Coursey, the trooper saw what appeared to be a small amount of a suspected controlled dangerous substance in the center console.

When the trooper confronted Coursey about this, Coursey accelerated away, with the trooper being dragged by the vehicle. The truck picked up speed as the trooper clung to the side. The trooper repeatedly told the driver to stop, but was ignored. In fear for his life, the trooper fired his weapon toward the suspect. At some point he became dislodged from the vehicle and fell where he was later found by backup troopers.

A lookout for the vehicle was broadcast and the vehicle was spotted by Queen Anne County Sheriff’s Office deputies. A deputy reported the truck was driving through a field and eventually became stuck in a ditch. Deputies and troopers took the suspect into custody and found he had what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the middle torso. Troopers administered immediate emergency care and EMS units responded to the scene. The suspect was flown by a Maryland State Police helicopter to Shock Trauma.

Investigators from the State Police Criminal Enforcement Division and crime scene technicians from the Forensic Sciences Division responded to the scene and assisted with the investigation. The Maryland State Police Homicide Unit responded and is leading the ongoing investigation, as is procedure in a trooper-involved shooting. Upon completion, the criminal investigation will be presented to the Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for review.

Maryland State Police Internal Affairs Division investigators are also conducting an investigation. This investigation is procedure following a use of deadly force by a trooper.

Filed Under: News Portal Highlights Tagged With: assault, maryland state police, shooting

Trooper Injured, Suspect Shot During Suspicious Vehicle Check Near Chestertown

April 4, 2020 by Spy Desk

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A Maryland state trooper and the driver of a suspicious vehicle are being treated for injuries sustained during an apparent assault and trooper-involved shooting in Queen Anne’s County early Saturday, according to a state police press release.

The trooper is a uniformed patrol trooper assigned to the Maryland State Police Centreville Barrack. The suspect is an adult male believed to be from Queen Anne’s County. Both are undergoing treatment at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

At this time, the preliminary investigation indicates that shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday, March 4, the trooper was on patrol when he located a suspicious vehicle at the end of Rolph’s Wharf Road (300-block) near Chestertown, according to the press release. The trooper called in a description of a 2001 Chevrolet truck.

Minutes later, the trooper called for backup. As troopers and deputies responded to the area, the trooper on the scene did not respond to calls on his radio. When units arrived, they found the trooper lying in a ditch and saw the suspect vehicle was not at the scene. Evidence indicated the trooper may have been injured when he was dragged by a vehicle.

A lookout for the vehicle was broadcast and the vehicle was spotted by Queen Anne County Sheriff’s Office deputies. The driver of the vehicle refused to stop and a pursuit ensued in the area of Woods Road and Pondtown Road. The vehicle was eventually stopped. Deputies and troopers took the suspect into custody and found he had what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the upper torso. Troopers administered immediate emergency care and EMS units responded to the scene. The suspect was flown by a Maryland State Police helicopter to Shock Trauma.

Investigators from the State Police Criminal Enforcement Division and crime scene technicians from the Forensic Sciences Division are on the scene and assisting with the investigation. The Maryland State Police Homicide Unit responded and will be leading the ongoing investigation, as is procedure in a trooper-involved shooting. State Police Internal Affairs Unit investigators are also conducting an investigation which is also procedure following a use of deadly force by a trooper.

A motive for the suspect’s actions is not known at this time. Further information will be provided when it becomes available.

Filed Under: News Portal Highlights Tagged With: Chestertown, maryland state police, shooting

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