State's Attorney Mosby Issues Statement Regarding Governor Larry Hogan’s Recent Press Conference

"My prosecutors take violent crime seriously and so do I. I met with the devastated daughter whose mother was killed in a church last week, and today I'm going to meet with the parents of the 13-year-old girl, who was a part of my "great expectations" program, that was murdered. For the Governor to put on a show today and exploit the very real pain of our city residents, as part of his political stunt, is disgraceful and unacceptable.

I want to be clear that as the state's attorney for Baltimore city, my office prosecutes violent crime and violent criminals. I stand committed to continuing to work with the Mayor and the Baltimore Police Department to ensure accountability against individuals that wreak havoc in our communities. Had the Governor set aside his philosophical differences and chosen to meet or even to speak with me, I would have been happy to show him the data that we publish every month on our website which he's now making contingent on my office's funding. Just as he's done in the past, his press conference today was a political stunt with no basis whatsoever to call me or my office out.

Anyone who thinks that the Governor truly cares about crime in the city of Baltimore should also question how or why he's been unwilling to develop long-term solutions to address the root causes of crime. His only solution to crime is more police and mandatory minimum sentences. He's always singled out our city as a punching bag - from canceling the Red Line to vetoing the Kirwan Commission.

Governor Hogan continues to play to his national right-wing conservative audience as he plots to out Donald Trump in a future presidential primary. The Governor is so wildly out of touch with what is going on in the city. The irony of "refunding police" while defunding prosecutors is not lost on locals. He needs to stop his meaningless political grandstanding because our city and our citizens deserve better."

Marilyn J. Mosby, Baltimore City State's Attorney