Columbia Protester Arrested at Cop Conference in Baltimore

BALTIMORE, MD — A Columbia man was among a dozen protesters chained together and arrested outside a police convention in Baltimore recently.

The Maryland Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) conference is being held at the Hyatt Regency in the 300 block of Light Street, where hotel staff called authorities after demonstrators chained themselves to a railing and would not leave the premises, according to Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith.

"They're protesting a recent police-involved incident from another jurisdiction," as well as other police issues, Smith said. The incident from another jurisdiction was the fatal police-involved shooting of Korryn Gaines, 23, in Baltimore County earlier this month.

On the protesters' list of demands was the release of the officer's name who shot Gaines and the closure of all FOP lodges.

Police cited 12 people for trespassing who were part of a blockade at the hotel and were warned multiple times before being arrested between 1:45 p.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday for an act of civil disobedience:

• Payam Omid Sohrabi, 26, of Columbia
• Justin Johnson, 18, of Ellicott City
• Zachary Zwagil, 30, of Pikesville
• Samuel Didnato, 24, of Fedearl Hill
• Brendan Orsinger, 34, Washington, DC
• Marcella Largess, 30, of Baltimore
• Tracye Redd, 24, of Washington, DC
• Jonathan Lykes, 26, of Washington, DC
• Asha Ransby-Sporn, 22, of Chicago, IL
• Margaret Rice, 21, of Baltimore
• Kerridwen Rice, 39, of Montgomery County
• Lenora Knowles, 27, of Baltimore

The state FOP conference runs from Sunday, Aug. 14, to Wednesday, Aug. 17, and police said authorities were prepared for more protests.

"We hope that we don't have to arrest anybody but if we have to do that, then that's what we're going to have to do," Smith said. He noted Sunday's incident was "relatively minor in nature" and there was no violence or damage to the hotel.

Photo Credit: Baltimore Police.