Tag: maryland

The AnthraX Chronicles: Part 1: Spills of the Fort Detrick Kind

The mainstream media has purposely turned a blind eye to suspicious biological research institutions in this country, such as the infamous US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick. USAMRIID—pronounced you-SAM-rid – is the medical and biodefense research organization that replaced the base’s former biowarfare lab that was in operation from 1943 to 1969. Fort Detrick was used to store the  CIA’s arsenal of biological poisons, including smallpox, tuberculosis, and anthrax, as well as a number of organic toxins, including snake venom and paralytic shellfish poison. Not only is Fort Detrick a biowarfare facility, but the CIA also used the base for their MK-Ultra mind control program. Arguably, too few Americans have heard of the base, despite its freakish history.

Yet early on in the pandemic, Fort Detrick was actually trending in China; Chinese state media suggested that the COVID-19 coronavirus was made and leaked from a US military installation. One title read In China, 25 Million People Have Called For An Investigation Into Fort Detrick For Causing The Lab Leak That Started The Worldwide Coronavirus Outbreak.  In 2021, a Chinese convoy of 25 million signed a petition, urging Tedros of the World Health Organization to launch a probe. Following the petition, a group of Filipino scholars also launched a similar online petition to break the wall of silence around the suspicious lab.

According to the publication Global Times, reports emerged from many other countries such as Italy, Spain, France, and the US, indicating the presence of COVID-19 even earlier than the first reported case in Wuhan, “which demands an inquiry and verification from WHO experts as soon as possible.”

“Fort Detrick is too dangerous a mystery to remain shrouded in secrecy,” said political commentator Herman Laurel. “It is important for all the peoples of the world to join in the petition to know the truth about Fort Detrick at this time and end the delusions the US is creating. However, the United States put a positive spin on Fort Detrick, saying that the army base is conducting “beneficial research.” A CNN “exclusive” further demonstrated the US was paving the way for the US intelligence agency to frame the Wuhan lab.

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Officers Find Body of Accused Killer of Maryland Judge After Weeklong Manhunt

The body of a suspect wanted for the murder of a Maryland judge has been located after a weeklong manhunt.

The suspect, Pedro Argote, was found guilty of domestic and child abuse and did not receive a favorable settlement agreement in a divorce case overseen by Judge Andrew Wilkinson.

The New York Post reported that Argote’s eldest daughter testified in court that Pedro “beat her with a belt and silenced his infant child by stuffing a towel in his mouth.” The daughter also testified that she had been confined to her bedroom “for years.”

The daughter, who fled the home when she turned 18, told the court: “The reason I worked up the courage to testify was so that my siblings wouldn’t have to go through the mental torment that I currently have.”

Authorities believe Argote, 49, “targeted” Wilkinson after the judge granted his ex-wife full custody of his children.

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New gun control laws sweep three blue states

Starting in October, three blue states will put into effect a slew of new gun reform legislation. Lawsuits against Colorado and Maryland have arisen, while Connecticut has steered clear of any new legal trouble.

Below is a breakdown of the legislation that went into effect on Oct. 1 in Colorado, Maryland, and Connecticut.

Once considered a purple political state, Colorado has been passing gun control legislation at a fast-moving pace. Two laws, passed by the legislature in April, will instill a three-day waiting period for firearm purchases and make the path easier for gun violence survivors and victims to sue manufacturers and dealers.

House Bill 23-1219 imposes a three-day waiting period and a background check for those who seek to purchase a firearm. Customers previously could purchase a gun and receive it the same day. If gun stores violate the new regulations, they could be charged a $500 fine for a first offense and up to a $5,000 fine for a second offense.

A gun rights group filed a lawsuit challenging the new timeline requirements, calling the waiting period “unconstitutional.” The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners initially filed a lawsuit against the law after the Democratic-led legislature passed the bill in April, but the group withdrew its suit after a judge ruled there was no standing.

“We will not bow down to unconstitutional infringements on our Second Amendment freedoms,” Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Executive Director Taylor Rhodes said in a statement last week.

“We’ve reloaded our legal arsenal and are ready to take on this absurd waiting period that does nothing but trample on the rights of peaceable gun owners. We will not let tyranny prevail.”

The group cited the Supreme Court ruling from last year, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, saying the ruling invalidates “the lower court rulings’ justification for gun control.”

Senate Bill 23-168 makes it easier for Coloradans who are victims of gun violence to file lawsuits against gun manufacturers and sellers by removing the requirement to pay the defendant’s legal bills for those who lose the lawsuit. Similar laws have been enacted in New York and New Jersey and are also facing legal troubles.

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Fury as ZERO children at 13 Baltimore state schools pass math exam – as parent groups call on leaders to step down

A slate of Baltimore schools have sparked outrage after zero students passed their state math exams – with almost 75 percent testing at the lowest possible score.

The poor performances came in the latest round of Maryland‘s state testing, where 13 high schools in the city – a staggering 40 percent – failed to produce a single student with a ‘proficient’ score in math.

‘This is educational homicide,’ said Jason Rodriguez, deputy director of Baltimore-based nonprofit People Empowered by the Struggle, to Fox Baltimore.

The activist said there is ‘no excuse’ for the failure, which has come after years of warnings over the city’s poor education standards.

It also comes days after a scathing new study found that schooling across America fell to dire lows during the pandemic, concluding that one-third of fourth and eighth grade students can’t even read at a ‘basic’ level.  

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LEADING DEMOCRAT IN MARYLAND SENATE RACE ONCE BLAMED MURDERS ON DECRIMINALIZED POT

EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE Maryland voters will cast their ballots in a rare U.S. Senate primary, the bulk of the state’s Democratic machine has already consolidated behind one candidate. Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks emerged as a front-runner shortly after announcing her candidacy, garnering endorsements from major Democratic officials and organizations before her campaign had any issue platforms listed on its website. 

The race presents a unique opportunity to fill a safely blue seat with a new candidate for the first time in 16 years. If Alsobrooks is successful, she would become Maryland’s first Black senator. While Democrats have embraced Alsobrooks’s historic campaign with enthusiasm, however, her record on criminal justice has largely gone overlooked.

During past campaigns for Prince George’s state’s attorney, Alsobrooks positioned herself as staunchly “tough-on-crime.” In addition to pushing the notion that cannabis decriminalization led to drug dealers murdering each other, she has supported DNA collection of people without criminal convictions, putting police in schools, and harsh penalties in a variety of situations, among other positions opposed by justice system reformers. 

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Maryland School Implements New Mask Mandate

An elementary school in Maryland has reinstated mandatory mask requirements, as Joe Biden appeared in front of the press wearing a face covering Tuesday.

Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Silver Spring, a wealthy DC suburb, has brought back the mask mandate for students and staff, and added that the coverings should be N95 masks.

The school sent out a letter informing parents they have taken the decision after just THREE students tested positive for COVID.

“Additional KN95 masks have been distributed and students and staff in identified classes or activities will be required to mask while in school for the next 10 days, except while eating or drinking. Masks will become options again following the 10-day period,” the letter states.

We’ve heard that one before.

“At-home rapid test kids will be sent home and made available for students,” Principal Irwin Kennedy further notes, adding that CDC guidance decrees that testing should be done “5 days after an exposure (starting day 6)” or at such time as symptoms occur.

“We will continue to reinforce good hand washing and follow cleaning and disinfection procedures,” the letter further states.

The move comes as Joe Biden donned a face diaper as he arrived at a White House gathering, before removing it altogether.

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Capitol Police officer charged with possession of child pornography

A longtime Capitol Police (USCP) officer has been charged with possession of child sexual abuse material and suspended from duty, according to the law enforcement agency.

Maryland State Police on Monday arrested Capitol Police officer Jared M. Lemon, 42, outside his home in the state and charged him with five counts of possession of child pornography, according to a release.

Lemon, who has been with the Capitol Police for nearly two decades, is suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case. 

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Maryland Supreme Court Limits Testimony on Bullet-Matching Evidence

The Maryland Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that firearms experts will no longer be able to testify that a bullet was fired from a particular gun. The decision is likely the first by a state supreme court to undercut the widespread forensic discipline of firearms identification, which is used in criminal cases across the country.

In a 4–3 decision first reported by The Baltimore Sun, the Maryland Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction of Kobina Ebo Abruquah after finding that a firearm expert’s trial testimony linking Abruquah’s gun to bullets found at a crime scene wasn’t backed up by reliable science. In the majority opinion, Maryland Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew J. Fader wrote that “firearms identification has not been shown to reach reliable results linking a particular unknown bullet to a particular known firearm.”

The ruling is a major victory for defense groups like the Innocence Project, which works to overturn wrongful convictions and limit what it calls faulty forensic science in courtrooms. It’s also not the only one: Radley Balko recently reported at The Watch on a similar ruling from a Cook County circuit judge in Illinois.

But Tuesday’s ruling is the first by a state supreme court limiting such testimony that Tania Brief, a senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project, which filed an amicus brief in the case, is aware of.

“One of the tensions in our work is that the law is always playing catch-up with the current scientific understanding,” Brief says. “And this is a real step forward in the law catching up with what the current scientific understanding is.”

Forensic firearms identification includes well-established uses such as determining caliber and other general characteristics, but examiners are also frequently called on to testify whether a particular bullet was fired from a particular gun. A gun’s firing pin and the grooves on the inside of a gun barrel leave marks on cartridge casings when a bullet is fired, so a firearm examiner compares crime scene bullets to samples fired from the suspect gun and looks for matching patterns under a microscope.

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REPORT DETAILS ‘STAGGERING’ CHURCH SEX ABUSE IN MARYLAND

More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children and often escaped accountability, according to a long-awaited state report released Wednesday that revealed the scope of abuse spanning 80 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups.

The report paints a damning picture of the archdiocese, which is the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the country and spans much of Maryland. Some parishes, schools and congregations had more than one abuser at the same time — including St. Mark Parish in Catonsville, which had 11 abusers living and working there between 1964 and 2004. One deacon admitted to molesting over 100 children. Another priest was allowed to feign hepatitis treatment and make other excuses to avoid facing abuse allegations.

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office released the findings of their yearslong investigation during Holy Week — considered the most sacred time of year in Christianity ahead of Easter Sunday — and said the number of victims is likely far higher. The report was redacted to protect confidential grand jury materials, meaning the identities of some accused clergy were removed.

“The staggering pervasiveness of the abuse itself underscores the culpability of the Church hierarchy,” the report said. “The sheer number of abusers and victims, the depravity of the abusers’ conduct, and the frequency with which known abusers were given the opportunity to continue preying upon children are astonishing.”

Disclosure of the redacted findings marks a significant development in an ongoing legal battle over their release and adds to growing evidence from parishes across the country as numerous similar revelations have rocked the Catholic Church in recent years.

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Mayor of College Park arrested, charged with 56 counts of child pornography

The mayor of a College Park was arrested Thursday morning on dozens of child pornography counts hours after he resigned from office.

Patrick Wojahn, 47, faces 56 counts of possession and distribution of child porn, the Prince George’s County Police Department said in a statement Thursday morning. Police searched his College Park home Tuesday and seized cell phones as well as a storage device, tablet and computer.

County officials said the department started investigating after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified them on Feb. 17 that a social media account had distributed suspected child pornography. Detectives traced the account to Wojahn, authorities said.

Wojahn submitted his resignation after business hours on Wednesday, city officials said in a statement Thursday. He was serving his second term as mayor of College Park, which includes the University of Maryland campus, after winning election in 2015. He previously served eight years as a city councilman.

“Mr. Wojahn resigned his position yesterday and has been cooperating fully with law enforcement,” his attorney David Moyse said via email Thursday. “While too early to comment on the allegations, we will continue to cooperate as the process unfolds.”

In his resignation letter, which the city released, Wojahn said he plans to “deal with my own mental health” and asked residents to keep his family in their prayers.

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