BALTIMORE, MD - The Executive Director of the Maryland Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been reinstated as a commissioner on the Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention after she was temporarily suspended for controversial social media posts regarding the conflict in Israel and Palestine.
Dr. Zainab Chaudry was temporarily suspended from the Commission on November 21 for the social media posts she shared in October, which the Attorney General deemed disruptive.
The Attorney General, Anthony Brown, who heads the Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention, announced the reversal of the suspension on Wednesday. Brown says while he has the authority to appoint people to the commission, he does not have the authority to suspend them. Commissioners serve a fixed 4-year term and can only be removed before the end of that term via statute enacted by the General Assembly and Governor, according to Brown.
Brown says he will distribute guidelines to Commission members for their review on personal communications and balancing free speech with their responsibilities as Commissioners before their next meeting on December 13th. AG Brown says the guidelines will underscore the Commissioners roles as public officials with responsibilities to Marylanders under State law.
“Once the guidelines are finalized, all Commission members will be expected to comply with them and I fully anticipate that they will,” Attorney General Brown explained. “I believe the Commissioners recognize the commitment required to eradicate hate crimes and bias incidents in Maryland, including the rising tide of antisemitism and Islamophobia. We must all put aside our differences, no matter how stark they may seem, and find common ground on ways to respond to and prevent hate crimes in our state.”
The Hate Crimes Response and Prevention commission was recently formed by Governor Wes Moore and has met only once so far. Chaudry’s suspension drew criticism from various Muslim community organizations who called for her reinstatement to the commission.