UPDATED June 27 at 11:10 a.m.
Members of the county council on Tuesday unanimously voted to create an Anti-Hate Task Force to combat the increased incidents of hate bias occurring in the county. There was no discussion during the meeting.
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With every Councilmember in support, on Tuesday the Montgomery County Council expects to create an Anti-Hate Task Force to address the increasing incidents of hate throughout the county.
There were 143 incidents of hate bias last year in the county, which is “the highest number in nearly a decade, and those are just incidents that were reported,” said Council President Evan Glass at his weekly news briefing.
The Task Force will be charged with making recommendations to the Council regarding policies related to hate crimes.
There will be six working groups within the Task Force, including Black and African Americans, Latino and Hispanic, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, LGBTQ+, Jewish and Muslim.
If approved the group’s first meeting will be Tuesday, July 11.
More than the one million county residents identify as non-white, and one in three are foreign born. According to the Montgomery County Police Department’s annual bias report in 2022, 91% of bias incidents concerning religion were considered anti-Jewish and 74% concerning race were considered anti-Black.
30 people will sit on the Task Force. There also will be ex officio members including a representative from the offices of Council President, County Executive, State’s Attorney office, county Office of Human Rights Director, Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent and Montgomery College president.
