Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby slammed criticism from Gov. Larry Hogan Tuesday, calling his ordered review of her office’s funding a political stunt.
At a news conference hours after Hogan announced a “top to bottom evaluation” of the state dollars sent to Mosby’s office, the Democrat said Hogan is “concerned with pointing the finger at everyone else as opposed to actually leading and delivering for a city that is the heartbeat of this state.”
“Had the governor set aside his philosophical differences and chosen to meet or even to talk to me, I would have been happy to show him the data that he's now making contingent on my office's funding,” she said.
The review will not affect Mosby’s current budget, although the Republican governor threatened to withhold state dollars from the office in the future.
Their comments come after a particularly horrific spate of violence in Baltimore.
The city marked 300 homicides recorded in 2021 last week when first responders were unable to revive 5-year-old Nivea Anderson; a police news release said officers found evidence that the little girl had suffered previous abuse. That same week, Evelyn Player, a 69-year-old grandmother, was found stabbed to death in her longtime East Baltimore Church and 13-year-old Maliyah Turner was shot to death outside a city recreation center.
Hogan blamed the bloodshed in part on Mosby, saying the city needs “a prosecutor who will actually prosecute violent criminals.”
The State’s Attorney’s Office stopped prosecuting nonviolent offenses such as prostitution and drug possession at the beginning of the pandemic; her office continues to prosecute violent crime.
“I've never said that I would not prosecute violent offenders or violent crime in the city of Baltimore," Mosby said.
She cast blame on the governor for failing to address the root causes of crime.
“Why did he cancel the Red Line, which would have provided job opportunities to residents of our city?” she asked. “Why did he veto the Kirwan commission that would have provided equity and education for our babies?”
