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Maryland's Gov. Hogan pardons 34 victims of racial lynching

Hogan has posthumously pardoned 34 victims of racial lynching in the state between 1854 and 1933 who were denied legal due process.

Credit: AP

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan talks to reporters at the governor's residence on the last day of the state's legislative session on Monday, April 12, 2021 in Annapolis, Md. Hogan, a Republican, praised bipartisan cooperation on pandemic relief legislation and on an agreement on how to allocate $3.9 billion in federal relief. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

TOWSON, Md. — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has posthumously pardoned 34 victims of racial lynching in the state between 1854 and 1933 who were denied legal due process.

Hogan signed the order Saturday at an event honoring Howard Cooper. The 15-year-old was hanged from a sycamore tree by a mob of white men in 1885.

Cooper was killed before his attorneys could file an appeal of a rape conviction reached by an all-white jury in minutes.

State officials attended a ceremony in Towson, Maryland, next to the former jailhouse where Cooper was held nearly 136 years ago.

I’m in Towson to make an announcement on racial lynching.

Watch live: https://t.co/429dmBwcLX
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) May 8, 2021

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