Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman and Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad have released the following jont message to the community regarding the potential for violence surronding the inauguration of President-Elect Joseph R. Biden.
After witnessing the events at the United States Capitol, it brought to bear fear about the potential for violent unlawful actions in our community. News reports are cautioning about insurrection by extremist groups and are reporting uncorroborated rumors and information. While there may be additional demonstrations as we approach next week’s Presidential Inauguration, we have no specific threat indicators in Anne Arundel County. We continue to work very closely with our partners in the FBI, Maryland State Police, Annapolis Police, as well as law enforcement agencies throughout the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia areas. Intelligence is being openly shared amongst the agencies throughout our well established communication networks.
We fully support the right of citizens to demonstrate and/or protest either for or against the outgoing or incoming administrations and any other causes they may wish. However, law enforcement is continually collecting and analyzing investigative information to mitigate any threats.
Our police department, and our allied agencies, are closely monitoring and addressing any threat information nationwide. Knowing that we cannot dismiss the possibility of a lone actor(s) conspiring to perpetuate specific acts, we are asking our community to partner with us and report any information, social media postings or observations of concerning conduct that could endanger the Anne Arundel County community. We ask that you report any concerns through the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center at (800) 492-TIPS (8477).
Be assured that The Anne Arundel County Police Department, in coordination with regional law enforcement partners, will remain actively engaged in ensuring the safety of our citizens.
