Islamic group director did not apply to state hate crime commission

The director of a Muslim civil rights organization said she decided not to apply for a seat on a state hate crime commission months after lawmakers dropped her nonprofit group as a named representative.

“In light of the probability that the AG Hate Crime Prevention Commission’s new communications policy would be exploited to suppress advocacy for Palestinian human rights, I made the decision to not re-apply to serve in this capacity,” Zainab Chaudry said in a statement.

The Maryland director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, came under fire last year for her social media posts criticizing Israel’s mounting retaliation in Gaza for Hamas attacks. Since the conflict began, Israel has launched airstrikes and offensives that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. In one post, Chaudry compared Israel to Nazi Germany.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown suspended Chaudry from the Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention last November, saying her posts risked disrupting the commission’s work, only to reinstate her weeks later because state law did not permit him to prematurely end a commissioner’s term.

Months later, Maryland lawmakers remade the commission and replaced named civil rights organizations with placeholders for 15 individuals representing protected classes of people. Gov. Wes Moore signed the bill into law.

CAIR was one of a group of organizations removed by name along with all other previously named civil rights groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Pride Center of Maryland and the Sikh Coalition.

The members representing protected classes will serve as acting commissioners until being confirmed by the Maryland Senate, according to a statement from Brown’s office.

Brown, a Democrat and chair of the commission, appointed the 25-member panel Wednesday, which also includes representatives from nine named government and law enforcement organizations.

A separate law Moore signed this year gave commission heads the power to remove members before their term ends.

These members of the government and law enforcement organizations will immediately begin serving as fully appointed commissioners on the Maryland Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention, according to Brown’s statement.

• Peter Berns, general counsel for the Office of the Attorney General
• Kate Bryan, executive director of the Maryland Center for School Safety
• Christine Dulla, deputy state’s attorney for Queen Anne’s County, will represent the Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association
• Dave Engel, director with the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center
• Cleveland L. Horton II, interim director of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights
• Rachel Lindley, director of diversity, equity and inclusion for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender
• Darryl McSwain, chief of police for the Maryland-National Capital Park Police of Montgomery County, will represent the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association
• Everett Sesker, sheriff of Anne Arundel County, will represent the Maryland Sheriffs’ Association
• Yolanda Sonnier, agencies administrator with the Howard County Office of Human Rights and Equity, will represent the Maryland Association of Human Relations/Rights Agencies

The following appointed members will serve as acting commissioners until confirmation from the Maryland Senate during the next General Assembly.

• Jennifer Brown of Anne Arundel County leads the Community Engagement Department at On Our Own of Maryland
• Ama S. Frimpong-Houser of Anne Arundel County is the legal director at CASA
• Kirsten Gettys Downs from Baltimore is the executive director of the Homeless Persons Representation Project, vice chair of the Monumental City Bar Foundation and a member of the Alliance of Black Women Attorneys
• Michael Gray of Prince George’s County is deputy director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Maryland
• Vicki Jones, a resident of Harford County, is a Havre de Grace City Council member and president of the Harford County NAACP
• Kobi Little lives in Baltimore and is the president of the Maryland NAACP
• Carissa Mattern of Harford County serves as legislative director for Baltimore City Council Member Odette Ramos and is an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ and disabled communities
• Gabriel Maximilian Moreno of Howard County works for Luminus Network for New Americans and is involved in several Latino advocacy groups
• Deborah Miller of Montgomery County serves as director of Maryland government and community relations for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
• Ayman Nassar of Howard County is the CEO of the Islamic Leadership Institute
• Katie Curran O’Malley of Baltimore is the former first lady of Maryland and executive director of The Women’s Law Center of Maryland.
• Nina Ovian of Baltimore is a victim advocate coordinator at FreeState Justice
• Sylvia Royster from Charles County is the director of educational partnerships at the College of Southern Maryland and an advocate for Native American students and families
• Joraver Singh of Montgomery County is an active volunteer with the Sikh Coalition as well as a founder of Panja, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering Sikhs
• Lanlan Xu, a resident of Howard County, volunteers as the chair of the Howard County Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission and works at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Two members of the general public will start their work as full commissioners and will not require Senate confirmation.

• Domonique Flowers from Baltimore is a staff attorney at the Pro Bono Resource Center focused on tenants rights and advocating for people with disabilities
• Carmen Jackson, a resident of Allegany County, is an active community volunteer, having served with Carver Community Center, Women’s Action Coalition and the Allegany/Garrett Citizen Review Board

Correction: This story has been updated to correct when Zainab Chaudry was suspended from the Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention.