Prince George’s County executive’s spokesperson accused of assaulting staffer

A communications director for Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy is accused of assaulting a colleague at work in March, according to court records.

Olivia Garrett Miller, of College Park, said she was assaulted at work by Sharon Taylor, a longtime spokesperson in county government who was serving as a communications director for Braveboy.

It’s unclear what Miller’s role with the county was at the time, but she described herself in court records as reporting to the communications director for the county executive. Reached by phone on Tuesday, Miller referred questions from The Banner to her attorneys, who did not immediately respond.

The county executive’s office declined to comment on the case or the current employment of either individual involved in the alleged assault, citing personnel matters and pending legal proceedings. Taylor’s attorney, Tiffany Alston, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

In a written statement for an application to file criminal charges, Miller said she was seated at her desk in the county executive’s office on March 10 when Taylor entered the room.

Miller wrote that Taylor “engaged in assaults including forming a fist with both hands and punched in the air towards my face close enough to make contact while making the punching sound with her mouth.”

“When the desired result did not meet her expectation she then proceeded to step towards me and stand over me form a fist with her right hand and place it on my face (left cheek) and pushed on my face until I screamed at her and asked her what she was doing in a loud voice,” Miller said.

Miller said that resulted in a black eye, which she discovered at a doctor’s visit two days later. She said she immediately notified her “new director Thomas Johnson of the assault and at his instruction left the building.”

Johnson is now serving as Braveboy’s communications director. Taylor’s name last appeared on a county executive’s press release under the title “director of communications” on March 10, the day of the alleged assault.

Court records indicate the case is still pending.

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