Larry Hogan (R) on Saturday granted posthumous pardons to 34 lynching victims. His office said it was the first time a governor had issued a “blanket pardon” of this kind. The governor signed the pardons at an event memorializing Howard, who was killed after an all-white jury found him guilty of raping a white woman. The governor said the petition prompted him to investigate the history of lynching in Maryland, and ultimately led him to the decision to pardon all documented victims of the racist, extrajudicial killings in the state between 1854 and 1933. The result is that today, I granted pardons to every single one of the 34 victims of racial lynching, which occurred in the State of Maryland between 1854 and 1933.

Source: Huffington Post May 08, 2021 22:18 UTC