Free Republic

A D.C. police officer was ordered held without bond until his next appearance in court on child sex abuse charges. Lt. Matthew Mahl was arrested in Harford County, Maryland, Tuesday on charges of solicitation of sex from a minor and solicitation of child pornography. He has been with the Metropolitan Police Department for 23 years, most recently assigned to special operations, and 10 years ago became the first openly gay chairman of the police union. According to charging documents, Mahl met who he thought was a 15-year-old boy on reddit and began a sexually explicit series of text exchanges that...

Two recent happenings in Annapolis reveal a disturbing truth. Even in this post-"MeToo” age, politicians who make inappropriate comments toward women remain sadly common. It becomes especially jarring when those comments are captured on state-run media and reported, somewhat cheekily, in the local press. That’s what happened in early March when Maryland’s First Lady, Dawn Moore, appeared before the Senate Finance Committee. It isn’t every day that the governor’s wife sits in the witness chair, and her appearance understandably drew attention. During the hearing, Sen. Ben Cramer (D-Montgomery) joked that he envied his Senate colleague for persuading Mrs. Moore to...

Maryland lawmakers have sent the governor a bill to protect firefighters and rescue workers from being penalized over their lawful use of medical marijuana off the job. The House of Delegates approved the Senate-passed legislation, SB 439 from Sen. Carl Jackson (D) in a 108-23 vote on Monday, about two weeks after passing a companion measure, HB 797 from Del. Adrian Boafo (D). The Senate bill, now having cleared both chambers in identical form, heads next to the desk of Gov. Wes Moore (D), who can sign or veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature. The...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Democrats have rejected an effort to redraw the state’s congressional map to boost their party’s chances in the midterm elections, a setback for Gov. Wes Moore who put his clout behind the attempt to blunt President Donald Trump’s own redistricting campaign. The clock officially ran out on the proposal late Monday night as the state legislative session ended, a casualty of internal party disagreements. In the end, the Maryland Senate left the bill in a committee, with Democrats who control the chamber concerned it could backfire under judicial review. The unusual mid-decade redistricting, which started...

FIRST ON FOX: One of the largest school districts in the country is facing allegations that it lets teachers decide if parents are sufficiently "supportive" enough to tell them about their child's desire to switch genders. Trump-aligned America First Legal (AFL) filed a formal complaint against Montgomery County Public Schools, which is in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., with the Departments of Justice and Education, alleging it has been violating the constitution and other federal law through its "Gender Identity in Montgomery County Public Schools" handbook. AFL goes on to allege the school district repeatedly instructs staff to condition parental...

A Maryland House bill that would require tampons and other menstrual-hygiene products in both men’s and women’s bathrooms in public buildings has set off a fresh round of argument in Annapolis. Backers are pitching it as an issue of access and dignity for people who menstruate, while critics say the whole thing is unnecessary and potentially pricey to pull off.

Dayton Webber, 27, a professional cornhole player, is accused of fatally shooting 27-year-old Bradrick Michael Wells during an argument in La Plata, Maryland. Police say Webber shot Wells inside a car, then drove off with the victim’s body before it was later found in a yard in Charlotte Hall. Webber was arrested at a Virginia hospital and faces first- and second-degree murder charges as he awaits extradition to Charles County.

Four illegal migrants, who are members of the notorious MS-13 gang, have been indicted after they allegedly brutally murdered a 14-year-old boy in a Maryland park. Jose Vladimir Merlos, 18, Alam Josai Garcia-Padilla, 21, William Cuellar Gutierrez, 19, and a 17-year-old were indicted on charges, including first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and participation in a criminal organization, according to Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson. All four indicted are MS-13 gang members and illegal immigrants, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed. Jefferson Amaya-Ayala, 14, of Washington, DC, was reported missing on...

The millionaire philanthropist murdered in his Maryland senior living center was allegedly gunned down by a staffer who disguised himself as a woman — then shot at a state trooper who pulled him over. Marquis Emilio James, 22, was arrested and charged with the Feb. 14 killing of 87-year-old Robert G. Fuller Jr. at the Cogir Potomac Senior Living Facility, the Montgomery County Department of Police announced Wednesday. James, who worked at the facility as a medication technician since October, allegedly wore a wig and a mask before killing Fuller around 7:30 a.m. Police noted nothing appeared missing from Fuller’s...

A 22-year-old assisted living employee accused of disguising himself in long female wigs and executing an 87-year-old millionaire philanthropist he treated nightly, is now also charged with shooting at a Maryland state trooper Tuesday while on the run. The Montgomery County Department of Police’s Major Crimes Division confirmed during a news conference on Wednesday that Marquis Emilio James, 22, of White Marsh, Maryland, was arrested in connection with the Valentine's Day homicide of 87-year-old Robert G. Fuller Jr. at the Cogir Potomac Senior Living Facility, and the shooting of a Maryland State Police trooper Tuesday during a traffic stop in...

This is a truly Bizarro World story out of deep blue Prince George’s County, Md. Back in December, some 100 families living in the Marylander Condominiums complex were told they would have to leave their homes because the building was deemed “unfit for human habitation.” Last week, a Maryland judge signed a final eviction notice, which could leave many of these families homeless. Why? Turns out that the complex has been besieged for years by a nearby homeless encampment that is “a haven for gangs, drugs, and prostitutes” and has “vaporized property values and caused millions in damage, scaring away...

Montgomery County, Maryland, Board of Education must pay $1.5 million in damages to Becket’s clients and comply with court-enforced protections for parental rights following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling inMahmoud v. Taylor. The case arose after the School Board took away parental notice and opt-outs for storybooks that promote gender transitioning, Pride parades, and pronoun preferences to children as young as three and four (Watch this podcast episode to learn more). Becket represented a diverse coalition of religious parents including Muslims, Christians, and Jews, who successfully challenged the policy at the Supreme Court. In the Court’s 6-3 ruling last summer,...

President Trump is literally “draining the swamp.” The commander in chief ordered the feds to intervene and coordinate cleanup efforts in the Potomac River Monday after a six-foot sewer pipe burst open during a cold snap last month. The pipe — which belongs to DC Water and was located in Cabin John, Md., just northwest of Washington — collapsed on Jan. 19, unleashing approximately 243 million gallons of raw sewage that had overflowed from the collapse site as of Feb. 6, per the utility. “There is a massive Ecological Disaster unfolding in the Potomac River as a result of the...

Over the past 18 years, officers at Maryland’s Frederick County jail have asked thousands of inmates two standard questions: What country are you a citizen of? And where were you born?If the answer was anything other than the United States, local officers deputized with special federal authority launched an investigation into whether the person was in the country illegally. Since 2008, Frederick County has turned over 1,884 people to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sheriff Charles Jenkins said. But that is coming to an immediate halt under a law signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore that prohibits immigration enforcement...

A student group affiliated with Turning Point USA is facing criticism for hosting an event at a Maryland high school in December, with one woman saying that Child Protective Services had been notified. A local community member, who was identified as Nancy, expressed "serious concern" about the December TPUSA-affiliated event at a February 12 board meeting. The woman spoke after a student from the high school who serves as president of the Calvert County Club America. That student said his group placed restrictions on the event after receiving "hate" online, including restricting access for adults they did not know who...

Bethesda, Maryland -- A former Laurel police chief on Friday was sentenced to 55 years in prison for setting three fires at two Clarksburg properties owned by his stepson and daughter-in-law between 2016 and 2020. David Michael Crawford, 74, of Ellicott City, is already serving two consecutive life sentences plus 75 years for similar crimes he committed in Howard County. He is also implicated in several other arsons across Anne Arundel, Charles, Frederick and Prince George’s counties between 2011 and 2020, according to prosecutors. The fires targeted people known to Crawford and his wife, including several of Crawford’s former coworkers...

President Donald Trump went off on Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Wednesday, branding him a “RINO” — Republican In Name Only — who got it all “WRONG” when he claimed the president was only inviting Republican governors to an upcoming annual meeting. Trump’s searing response came after the Associated Press reported the bipartisan meeting was “unraveling” on Monday. Stitt — who chairs the National Governors Association — said the group was ditching the annual meeting because Trump had not invited his Democratic colleagues, who are equal members of the group. Trump posted on Truth Social that he was only...

Representative Jamie Raskin has said unredacted copies of certain documents in the Epstein files appear to contradict President Donald Trump’s longstanding assertion that he barred the late sex offender from his Florida club. *** the Maryland Democrat said one of the documents he reviewed at the Justice Department’s new satellite office in Washington, D.C., was an email from Jeffrey Epstein to his co‑conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. He said the email included details relayed by Epstein’s lawyers about a conversation with Trump’s attorneys around 2009. Raskin*** said Trump was quoted as saying that while Epstein was never a member of his Mar-a-Lago...

Residents of the Marylander Condominiums, in Prince George’s County, Md., have been without heat since November after vagrants from a nearby homeless encampment allegedly vandalized the boiler room. Now, many of those residents will be homeless themselves after a judge greenlighted the county’s efforts to start a forced evacuation of the condominium complex. Maryland district judge Bryon Bereano gave the county permission on Thursday to enforce an eviction order against half the property, which affects roughly 100 units. The county had deemed those units “unfit for human habitation” due to the heating failures allegedly caused by the encampment, to which...

Maryland’s state flag, one of the most recognizable and widely embraced symbols in the nation, has drawn renewed attention after Gov. Wes Moore referred to it as a “contradiction” during a recent podcast appearance — remarks that appear rhetorical rather than reflective of any policy direction. Moore made the comments while discussing mid-decade congressional redistricting during an appearance on The Press Box podcast on Jan. 28, 2026. In that context, he invoked the state’s history and identity, tying it to broader themes about division and reconciliation. “Do I understand the history of this country? Absolutely,” Moore said. “You can’t look...