Anne Arundel County ramps up hate crime prevention efforts with expansion of "Uncover Hate" program
Anne Arundel County is expanding its hate crime prevention program with the launch of the "Uncover Hate" initiative.
The program is funded with a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The initiative aims to improve community understanding on how to effectively identify and report hate crimes and hate bias incidents and strengthen local response and prevention efforts.
The county also said that it plans to purchase additional surveillance tools for the Anne Arundel County and City of Annapolis Police Departments to support the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes.
Also included is the launch of the Hate Crimes Prevention Multidisciplinary Advisory Team (MDAT), which will work to maximize the program's impact on hate crime victims and the overall community.
Recent hate crimes in Anne Arundel County
In Nov. 2024, Benjamin Michael, a Naval Academy graduate and Marine Corps veteran, was convicted of a hate crime for destroying a pride flag hanging outside an Annapolis store.
Police said the incident happened on Nov. 15, 2024, while Michael was visiting Annapolis for a football game. Around 1 a.m., security camera footage captured Michael taking down a rainbow pride flag from the Dapper Dog Tattoo Shop on Maryland Avenue and throwing it into a trash can.
Michael was found guilty in April 2025 and sentenced to 80 hours of community service and one year of probation.
Man accused in hate-fueled mass shooting
In June 2023, Charles Robert Smith, 45, was charged with hate crimes, first-degree murder, and other offenses in a 2023 mass shooting in Annapolis.
The shooting stemmed from a dispute over a parking spot on June 11, 2023, after Smith arrived home. His neighbor, Mario Mireles, 27, was hosting a party.
According to court records, Smith's mother called the police to complain about a car blocking her driveway. Mario then went to Smith's home to complain, leading to a fight. During the altercation, Smith allegedly shot and killed Mario Mireles, his father Nick Mireles, and their family friend Christian Segovia, 25. Three other people were injured.
Smith was charged with murder motivated by hate toward Hispanic persons, attempted murder, and assault.
In Feb. 2025, a mistrial was declared after Smith's attorney said that the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney mischaracterized evidence and brought up facts that the judge ruled to be irrelevant.
Smith's retrial is set for Sep. 24, 2025.
Memorial bench honoring former slave destroyed
A memorial bench dedicated to former slave Jason Asbury Pack in Anne Arundel County was destroyed in April. WJZ spoke to a family member who said the bench was one of the last remaining signs of Pack in town.
Nobody knows how the bench ended up in pieces, but community members told WJZ they were upset about the destruction of the community marker.
The Pack family is one of a handful of Black families who played a huge role in the early development of Severna Park.
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New York Times
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The 10-page indictment — filed in Federal District Court in Nashville in May and unsealed Friday — might also be an effort to save face: Bringing Mr. Abrego Garcia back to face criminal charges may allow the White House to avoid a broader legal confrontation that was increasingly headed toward questions of whether Trump administration officials should be held in contempt of court. 'Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice,' Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference in Washington. 'He was a smuggler of humans and children and women.' She added, 'This is what American justice looks like.' Two people familiar with the investigation said it made a significant leap forward when an imprisoned man recently came forward offering information about Mr. Abrego Garcia, but there was concern and disagreement among prosecutors about how to proceed. In recent weeks, a supervisor in the federal prosecutor's office in Nashville resigned over how the case was handled, these people said. Ms. Bondi went on to level accusations against Mr. Abrego Garcia that were not included in the indictment, claiming that co-conspirators told investigators he had helped smuggle 'minor children' and gang members during dozens of trips around the country. She linked him to more serious crimes, including murders and the abuse of women — even though he has only been charged in connection with smuggling. She also claimed, without providing evidence, that his seemingly law-abiding life in Maryland as a contractor, father and husband was a cover for a criminal activities spanning nine years. Ms. Bondi, who spearheaded the administration's public relations campaign to discredit him during the court battle, predicted he would be convicted and returned to El Salvador for imprisonment. The attorney general declined to say when the Tennessee investigation into Mr. Abrego Garcia was opened. His indictment was filed more than two weeks ago, on May 21, and unsealed Friday after he arrived in the United States. The deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, said he believed the indictment was likely to render moot the lawsuit brought by Mr. Abrego Garcia's family to force his release from Salvadoran custody. Mr. Abrego Garcia made an initial appearance in federal court in Nashville later Friday, and the government moved to hold him in custody. He was detained and is expected to return to court on June 13. Asked whether he had spoken directly with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador to take steps to free Mr. Abrego Garcia, Mr. Trump demurred. 'I don't want to say that. But he's returned,' he said, adding: 'And he should have never had to be returned. You take a look at what's happened with him; you take a look at what they found in the grand jury and everywhere else.' Mr. Bukele, who had previously said he would not release Mr. Abrego Garcia, said on social media on Friday, 'We work with the Trump administration, and if they request the return of a gang member to face charges, of course we wouldn't refuse.' Mr. Abrego Garcia's lawyers said they welcomed their day in court and pointed out that the government's decision to return him to the United States undercut its longstanding efforts to keep him in El Salvador. 'Today's action proves what we've known all along — that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so,' said Andrew Rossman, a lawyer for Mr. Abrego Garcia. 'It's now up to our judicial system to see that Mr. Abrego Garcia receives the due process that the Constitution guarantees to all persons.' Ama Frimpong, the legal director for CASA, an immigrant rights group based in Maryland, described the mixed feelings of Mr. Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura. 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The charges filed against him on Friday accused him of belonging to the gang and taking part in a conspiracy to 'transport thousands of undocumented aliens' across the United States. In court papers seeking his pretrial detention, prosecutors said Mr. Abrego Garcia had been part of a trafficking conspiracy and had played 'a significant role' in smuggling immigrants, including unaccompanied minors. If convicted, Mr. Abrego Garcia could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each person he transported, the papers said, a penalty that would go 'well beyond the remainder of the defendant's life.' Mr. Abrego Garcia had been in Salvadoran custody since March 15, when he was flown, along with scores of other migrants, into the hands of jailers at the so-called Terrorism Confinement Center, a notorious prison known as CECOT. He was later moved to another facility in El Salvador. 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