Today, retired Chief Judge Wanda Heard issued a public endorsement of mayoral candidate and former Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah.

 

The retired Judge emphasized that she had never before made a political endorsement, even before she was a judge, but that the epic challenges now facing Baltimore required a strong leader, and that Vignarajah was the only candidate prepared to tackle these problems: Baltimore’s “problems need to be addressed by someone with the talent, intellect, the dedication, the ability, the resources, and the plan” and by a leader who “knows how to get the job done.”

In response to the Council President’s misleading statement today that ‘Gun violence is a disease in Baltimore that needs to be cured, not fought,’ Vignarajah released the following statement:

 

"The next mayor’s most important job is ending the bloodshed. After a decade in office, Brandon Scott still doesn’t get it. Over 300 of our neighbors die every year from gun violence. We’re not going to solve this through pandering and politics, we have to get the killers off the streets.  Of course, we need to be investing in the future through better schools, job training, and economic development, but if we’re going to end the massacre, we need a mayor who wakes up every day focused on fighting violent crimes. If he doesn’t think fighting gun violence is part of the job description, he should take his name off the ballot.”

“I continue to believe a warrant requirement is essential to safeguard the community's privacy and the constitutional rights of everyone in Baltimore. That is not included right now. It is something that could have been easily corrected if the public had more than 12 hours to see that it wasn't in there. I urge BPD and prosecutors to use this valuable tool in a constitutionally responsible way.”

 

“The police commissioner was right to shoot down the Council President's ironic claim that the program didn't work in 2016 when he was chair of public safety. Back then, the police department secretly launched this program with no public input, no limits, no record keeping, no methodology, and no data analysis. Commissioner Harrison couldn't do anything about that, he was in New Orleans — Council President Scott could have, he just didn't.”

Following the postponement by the Board of Estimates on voting for the aerial surveillance agreement, mayoral candidate and former Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah continued his call for transparency by sending a letter to City Council President Brandon Scott requesting that he share the draft legal agreement between the city and the program operator before Wednesday’s Board of Estimates’ vote.

 

“There is apparently a draft agreement between the City and the operator of an aerial surveillance program that has been reviewed by you and other members of the Board of Estimates, but has not been released to the public...This could be a potent and promising tool in the fight against violent crime, which currently we are losing.”

As  a  global  pandemic  only  amplifies  the  city’s  major  challenges,  business  owners, executives, and  community leaders from the Baltimore area, together with others with deep city roots, have released a  joint  letter  of support for mayoral candidate and former Maryland deputy attorney general Thiru  Vignarajah. 

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The  signatories  explain  their  support  for Thiru saying he “has the best combination of experience  and  skills  of  all  the  candidates  to  restore  public  safety  and  help  promote  a  healthier  economic climate in our city.”