Five Years After Peyton Ham's Killing, Lawsuit Against State Trooper Who Shot Him Lives On | Defector

"Moore went on Fox News to blast theDHS forces as "untrained, unaccountable, and unqualified-and, by the way, armed." He brought the same wording and vitriol to MS NOW. He posted on Instagram about the "reckless pattern of violence" by the agency's cops. Moore told D.C. CBS affiliate WUSA-9 that tax money should only fund a force that "actually aligns with de-escalation and not with escalation.""

"The governor, who during his Minneapolis-inspired media blitz denied any plan to run for president, and whose job includes overseeing the Maryland State Police, bragged that troopers on his watch have none of the recklessness or disregard for human life flaunted by the feds. "When I think about the state policemen that we put out on the streets in the state of Maryland, these are people who are well-trained, that we can stand behind their training," Moore said. "That they are ready to respond to any situation.""

"But to the family of Peyton Ham-a 16-year-old Marylander shot dead by a state police trooper-those proclamations meant less than nothing. "It happened here," said Keith Raley, a lifelong resident of Southern Maryland and Ham's grandfather. "It was a murder." Ham was gunned down by Maryland State Trooper Joseph Azzari five years ago this spring in Leonardtown."

"Three witnesses told Defector in 2021 that they saw Ham on his knees in a gravel driveway when the trooper killed him. Azzari was never charged with any crimes or formally punished. A civil case filed against Azzari is still alive in federal court, with the trooper mounting a vigorous defense funded by Maryland taxpayers. And Azzari is still an armed member of the Maryland State Police, a force whose troopers, as Governor Moore tells it, are all well-trained to respond to anything, aligned wi"

Federal law enforcement officers shot and killed two people in Minnesota, prompting Maryland Governor Wes Moore to publicly criticize the DHS forces as untrained, unaccountable, and unqualified, while noting they were armed. Moore repeated similar language across multiple media outlets and social media, describing a reckless pattern of violence and arguing that tax money should fund forces aligned with de-escalation rather than escalation. Moore also claimed Maryland State Police troopers are well-trained and ready to respond to any situation. Peyton Ham, a 16-year-old Marylander, was shot dead by a Maryland State Trooper five years earlier, with witnesses describing Ham on his knees. No criminal charges or formal punishment followed, and a civil case remains active in federal court with the trooper defending himself using taxpayer-funded resources.

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