FREDERICK, MD – The Frederick County Conservative Club and the Frederick Police Department are at odds over what happened this week to cause the cancelation of a scheduled political rally in the city.
The event was to be held Wednesday night at Baker Park.
“We are changing the event location and date for Wednesday night’s Rally at Baker Park, to a future date and time to be determined due to the inability of the Frederick City Police Department to ensure the safety and security of all attendees,” the club said, blaming the police department for cancelation. “The intention of the rally was initially to stand up for equal justice and against government abuse of power by weaponizing government agencies against business owners and elected officials from the opposing political viewpoint.”
The Frederick Police Department responded to the claim made by the Frederick County Conservative Club regarding the cancellation of their rally in a recent statement.
According to FPD Chief Lando, the department has and will continue to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety and security of rally participants as they do for any other 1st Amendment event in the City of Frederick.
The Chief reached out to Ms. Charlton, who expressed concerns about the safety of her event, to understand the issue. She had been under the impression that FPD was not going to provide adequate security for her rally. However, the Chief assured her that this was not the case and that the department had been planning internally and coordinating with external partners since the event was first announced.
“Yesterday I was made aware of Ms. Charlton’s concerns surrounding safety at the rally that was originally scheduled for this evening in Baker Park. I reached out to her personally to get a better understanding of the issue, at which point I learned that Ms. Charlton was under the impression FPD was not going to provide adequate security for her event,” said Chief Lando. “I assured her that was not the case and that we had been planning internally and coordinating with external partners ever since we saw her flyer circulating online. I did explain to Ms. Charlton that it would have been helpful if police had been invited to be a part of the planning process from the start, rather than learning about the event by way of a Facebook post just days before it was set to occur. We will always do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of our residents and visitors, but it does add an extra layer of complexity when we are forced to create a safety plan on the fly and with very little information.”
The FPD said it remains committed to providing the highest level of service to the community and will work collaboratively with event organizers and other stakeholders to ensure the success and safety of all events in the city.