Governor Larry Hogan issued posthumous pardons to 34 Maryland lynching victims on May 8, reported the Baltimore Sun. Among them is including Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old Black boy who was dragged from the Baltimore County Jail and hanged outside the Towson jailhouse by a white mob in 1885.
According to Hogan’s office “it was the first time a governor has issued a ‘blanket pardon’ for the victims of racial lynchings.”
TOWSON, MD – MAY 8: Maryland Governor Larry Hogan looks at the historical marker unveiled for the lynching of Howard Cooper during an event held by The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project at the old Baltimore County Jail in Towson, MD on May 8, 2021. (Photo by Will Newton for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Dozens of Black men and boys were lynched in the state between 1854 and 1933. “My hope is that this action will at least in some way help to right these horrific wrongs,” Gov. Larry Hogan said.
AP
The head of Maryland’s NAACP on Sunday lambasted Gov. Larry Hogan’s posthumous pardon of lynching victims as “political posturing,” criticizing the Republican governor for issuing a blanket pardon of dozens of the state’s Black victims even though many were never convicted of any crimes, but merely charged or accused of wrongdoing before they were killed.
The scathing criticism comes after Hogan on Saturday issued the blanket pardons for Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old Black child who was hanged from a sycamore tree after he was convicted of raping and assaulting a White woman, and 33 other victims of racial lynching in Maryland between 1854 and 1933.
Maryland governor issues posthumous pardons for 34 victims of racial lynching
AP
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan participates in a panel discussion during the Republican Governors Association annual conference Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chase Stevens)
By: WMAR Staff
and last updated 2021-05-10 16:18:07-04
TOWSON, Md. â Over the weekend, the governor of Maryland issued full posthumous pardons for 34 victims of racial lynching in the state between 1854 and 1933. It is the first time in history that a governor has issued a blanket pardon for the victims of racial lynchings.
âThe State of Maryland has long been on the forefront of civil rights, dating back to Justice Thurgood Marshallâs legal battle to integrate schools and throughout our national reckoning on race,â said Governor Larry Hogan. âToday, we are once again as together we continue the work to build a more perfect union. My hope is that this action will at least
Maryland Governor Grants Posthumous Pardons To 34 Black Lynching Victims
By Eric McDaniel
May 9, 2021
Thirty-four Black men and boys lynched in Maryland between 1854 and 1933 were granted posthumous pardons by Gov. Larry Hogan on Saturday.
Hogan made the announcement at an event held to memorialize Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old boy who in 1885 was dragged from the Baltimore County Jail and hanged while his criminal case was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Students at the state’s Loch Raven Technical Academy and the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project petitioned the governor earlier this year to pardon Cooper, which led Hogan to instruct his staff to search for all of the available accounts of racist lynching in state.