#Maryland governor blasts Pelosi over statue toppling comments

WASHINGTON — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has “lost touch” with her native Baltimore after she refused to condemn the toppling of a statue in the city over the weekend.

In a Thursday evening tweet, the Republican governor blasted Pelosi’s indifference to the destruction of a statue of Christopher Columbus on July 4 by activists, telling reporters, “People will do what they do.”

“It’s disappointing that Speaker Pelosi has lost touch with the Baltimore community that her family served,” Hogan wrote on Twitter.

Pelosi’s father Thomas D’Alesandro Jr. served as mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959, followed by her brother Thomas L. J. D’Alesandro III who held the job from 1967 to 1971.

“While efforts towards peaceful change are welcome, there is no place in Maryland for lawlessness, vandalism, and destruction of public property,” Hogan continued.

“Our state and nation need room for more constructive dialogue, not destruction. We will not let mobs ‘do what they do.’ They do not represent Baltimore,” he added, referring to Pelosi’s remarks.

Pelosi (D. Calif) was indifferent when asked about the toppling of the statue in Little Italy by protesters who dragged it to the edge of nearby Inner Harbor and threw it into the water, according to local media reports.

“If the community doesn’t want the statue there, the statue shouldn’t be there,” the Democratic lawmaker, 80, said, skipping over the rule of law. “I don’t care that much about the statues.”

Pelosi’s nonchalant stance towards the destruction of statues around the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death stands in stark contrast to President Trump, who has warned he would pursue hefty criminal sentences for offenders.

Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. Jack Young also said he would not tolerate the destruction of the statue of the 15th century Italian explorer who colonized the Americas — a figure who many activists now claim to be offensive.

“If we identify them, they will be brought to justice,” Young said, according to the Baltimore Sun.