Maryland Sheriff Won’t Quit Over Racist and Anti-Semitic Remarks
WASHINGTON — A county sheriff in Maryland accused of making racist and anti-Semitic comments is refusing to resign.
James Fitzgerald, a Democrat who is the elected sheriff in Howard County, a mixed rural-suburban county straddling Baltimore and the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C., said at a news conference on Sept. 29 that he would not step down.
The county’s Office of Human Rights had compiled a report which alleged that Fitzgerald had frequently used the N word to disparage blacks, referred derisively to women’s bodies and had called a former county executive, Ken Ulman, “little Kenny Jew-boy,” the Washington Post reported. The county executive is equivalent to a mayor.
In the press conference, Fitzgerald referred to the report as “humbling, hurtful and disappointing to all involved,” but did not confirm that he had used the offensive language.
A bipartisan slate of officials has called on Fitzgerald to step down, and current County Executive Allan Kittleman is investigating whether Fitzgerald can be impeached.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
