Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan critiqued former President Barack Obama and the former mayor of Baltimore for their response to the riots that took place in the city in 2015.
The Republican said in his forthcoming book that he expected Obama to call and offer federal assistance but was instead told to be cautious with his response to the rioters.
“I assumed he was calling to offer federal assistance to the state of Maryland. Boy, was I wrong. ‘I’m calling to express my concern,’ he continued. ‘I’m concerned that your actions could potentially inflame an already tense environment. My strong advice would be that you exercise caution and restraint in the city. Because it is a volatile situation,'” Hogan wrote in the book, which was obtained by Fox News.
Hogan said that he did not heed Obama’s guidance, writing, “He couldn’t stop me. I was the governor.”
The riots that took place in Baltimore in 2015 followed the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in the back of a Baltimore Police Department van after being arrested for possession of a knife. The rioting that followed Gray’s death led to more than $20 million in damage to the city.
Hogan also condemned then-Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for telling reporters that the city would provide space to “those who wished to destroy” parts of the city. Hogan called her statement “dreadful.”
“What did she just say? ‘Space’ for ‘those who wished to destroy’? I could hardly believe my ears. … In other words, unless the gang members and the out-of-town agitators injured or killed someone, the mayor was going to let them destroy property and cause other kinds of mayhem,” Hogan wrote.
“It was as close to a hands-off response to urban violence as I had ever heard from a political leader. It was dangerous and reckless, and it threatened innocent lives and property,” he added.
Rawlings-Black claims her remarks were taken out of context. “I did not instruct police to give space to protesters who were seeking to create violence or destruction of property,” she wrote on Facebook in late April of that year.
Hogan, who has been a vocal critic of President Trump, has been rumored to be considering a Republican presidential bid in 2024.
