Via Office of the Governor’s Flickr. Taken 5/8/2021.
Gov. Larry Hogan issued posthumous pardons for 34 victims of racial lynchings in Maryland, including three victims who were killed around the Montgomery County area.
“My hope is that this action will, at least in some way, help to right these horrific wrongs. And perhaps to bring a measure of peace to the memories of these individuals and to their descendants and their loved ones,” Hogan said during an event Saturday.
Of the 34 victims pardoned between 1854 and 1933, three were killed in the county area, according to the governor’s office.
George Peck (around January 10, 1880): Peck was seized and lynched in or near Poolesville as a justice transported him to Rockville for trial. He is pardoned from assault allegations.
Print Associated Press
Maryland s governor on Saturday posthumously pardoned 34 victims of racial lynching in the state dating between 1854 and 1933, saying they were denied legal due process against the allegations they faced.
It was a first-of-its-kind pardon by a governor of a U.S. state.
Gov. Larry Hogan signed the order at an event honoring Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old who was dragged from a jailhouse and hanged from a tree by a mob of white men in 1885 before his attorneys could file an appeal of a rape conviction that an all-white jury reached within minutes.
“My hope is that this action will at least in some way help to right these horrific wrongs and perhaps bring a measure of peace to the memories of these individuals and to their descendants and their loved ones, Hogan said.
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Gov. Larry Hogan on Saturday issued a full posthumous pardon for 34 Maryland victims of racial lynching between 1854 and 1933, and said the fundamental rights of the slain were violated. The announcement came at a Towson event in honor of Howard Cooper. ( Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
TOWSON, MD Full posthumous pardons for 34 Maryland victims of racial lynching between 1854 and 1933, were issued Saturday by Gov. Larry Hogan. The announcement came at a Towson event in honor of Howard Cooper, a 15-year old boy who was dragged from the Baltimore County Jail and hanged from a sycamore tree.
Cooper was convicted by an all-white jury of raping Katie Gray, a white teenager, the Baltimore Sun reported, although Gray did not testify she was raped. Cooper was lynched in the early hours of July 13, 1885, before his attorneys could appeal his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. His body was left on display as a warning.
5 Things to Know Today, Feb. 2, In Montgomery County
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 2. On this day in 1862, slavery was abolished in Washington D.C.; on this day in 1914, Ernest Just, one of the first Black scientists to receive international recognition for his work, won the Spingarn Medal; and on this day in 1948, former President Harry S Truman urged Congress to adopt a Civil Rights program.
Happy Black History Month! Here are five things to know in Montgomery County.
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Winter Weather Advisory: Montgomery County is under a winter weather advisory today, as well as a hypothermia alert because of the snowy weather. Be safe on the roads and look out for weather-related cancelations.