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Former FreeState Justice executive director denies allegations against them

Jeremy LaMaster denies they launched ‘coordinated attack’

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Jeremy LaMaster (Photo courtesy of Jeremy LaMaster)

The former executive director of FreeState Justice on Tuesday denied they have launched a “coordinated attack” against their former organization.

Jeremy LaMaster on Sept. 19 announced their resignation after they said FreeState Justice”s board of directors declined their request to step down. 

FreeState Justice two days later in a federal court filing against LaMaster said they “immediately began a coordinated attack on FreeState’s operations; in particular, its IT assets” after they left a Sept. 16 meeting in which the board informed them they “were relieved of their duties, and the final two weeks of their employment were to be spent cooperating in the transition of FreeStateā€™s operations.ā€

ā€œWhen FreeState discovered LaMasterā€™s improper interference, it terminated their employment effective immediately, ordered them to cease and desist and to rectify their actions,” reads the court filing. “LaMaster did not abide and continued to hijack and misappropriate FreeStateā€™s IT infrastructure and documents.ā€ 

“What would hacking into someone’s email and deleting an email do,” LaMaster told the Washington Blade during a FaceTime interview. 

LaMaster, who uses they/them pronouns, told the Blade they started “working on this transition stuff” once they returned home from the Sept. 16 meeting and “I started getting error messages for our intake system.”

“After the Sept 16 meeting, someone else, not me, began deactivating email accounts, including mine, breaking workflows for our client intake and other processes, causing a lot of problems for our IT infrastructure,” said LaMaster on Wednesday in a follow-up text message.

LaMaster said they began to receive text messages on Sept. 18 about “criminal charges” and “allegations.” 

LaMaster told the Blade they tried to call now FreeState Justice Executive Director Phillip Westry on Sept. 18, but he did not accept his call.

“I sent an email to the team about this is what happened, this is what I was doing,'” said LaMaster. “Some of our things are down. Please let me know.”

LaMaster said they sent a Slack message to Westry and now Deputy Executive Director Tina Jones on the morning of Sept. 20 in order to “help transition IT.” LaMaster told the Blade they “learned about the restraining order and a number of IT issues and allegations when everyone else did.”

LaMaster, who is representing themself, attended a court hearing in Baltimore on Monday. 

LaMaster told the Blade that they said they could provide passwords to their FreeState Justice email account. LaMaster said they provided the passwords to all other software systems the organization uses.

LaMaster sent the Blade a screenshot of a text message thread between them and Jones.

“Please provide the the (sic) appropriate login credentials and administrator access to all FreeState Justice systems,” Jones told LaMaster. “Please do not attempt to access any systems or the office.”

“As I mentioned yesterday ā€” I do not know the passwords off the top of my head and will need to either 1) test them or 2) reset them. This required accessing the systems,” responded LaMaster. “I’m not being obtuse ā€” but you’ve all made a large number of false (and impossible) accusation based on the very limited understanding of our tech, or tech in general (not being rude, but y’all know it’s true.)

“Like I said, I think a phone call or Zoom, we can even record it so that I cam (sic) do/show exactly what I am doing,” added LaMaster. “I’m here for the lawyer robot responses and the desire for retaliation to continue to block FreeState legal services delivery, and then turn around and blame you (sic) lack of cooperation and knowledge on me.”

Text messages between former FreeState Justice Executive Director Jeremy LaMaster and FreeState Justice Deputy Executive Director Tina Jones on Sept. 27, 2022. (Screenshot courtesy of Jeremy LaMaster)
Text messages between former FreeState Justice Executive Director Jeremy LaMaster and FreeState Justice Deputy Executive Director Tina Jones on Sept. 27, 2022. (Screenshot courtesy of Jeremy LaMaster)

LaMaster told the Blade they were “supposed to return items and keys and such” to FreeState Justice’s offices at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, but “no one was there.” The text thread shows LaMaster texted Jones at 4:43 p.m. to let her know that they’re “here to drop off keys and pick up my stuff, but no one is answering the door.”

“They’re still holding my personal belongings and not accepting my keys and FSJ (FreeState Justice) checks,” LaMaster told the Blade.

Board has ‘white supremacist culture’

LaMaster in June 2020 succeeded Mark Procopio as executive director.

LaMaster in their resignation letter said they stepped down after board members refused their request to immediately step down “due to persistent violations of our board handbook, consistent failures in their fiduciary responsibilities, and using positions of power to engage in partisan lobbying within FreeState Justice and their repeated refusal to add new members and leadership to the board.ā€

LaMaster in his email noted they ā€œexhausted every avenue over the past two years to get our board fully staffed and running, and I made good faith efforts to work with the board to ensure that our clients and low-income LGBTQ Marylanders remained at our center.ā€ 

ā€œInstead, the board has refused to accept any new board members since 2021 and refused to staff and run core board activities as per our handbook,ā€ wrote LaMaster. ā€œInstead, they have worked to consolidate power and amend the board handbook in secret to lower the minimum number of board members required and ensure that our policy positions prioritize relationships with legislators, not the best interests of our clients and community. I have provided clear warnings and consistent concerns over these issues that were repeatedly ignored.ā€

LaMaster reiterated his criticism of the board when they spoke with the Blade.

“As with most nonprofits, I’m sure if you talk to any executive director, they will tell you the large number of challenges that comes to board and nonprofit boards and cultivating and building them and supporting them. There have been chronic issues for two years now,” they said.

“I think everyone gets a pass with the (COVID-19) pandemic, but at some point, stop getting passes,” LaMaster added. “There was just a lot of really poor decision making that was costing the organization money, and really not fulfilling core responsibilities laid out in our board handbook.”

LaMaster specifically noted the board’s abrupt decision in May 2022 to stop offering COVID-19 vaccines to people experiencing homelessness after FreeState Justice’s landlord “did a full Karen” and “went to the board and was complaining about a whole lot of things, the majority of which were not true.”

“It basically screwed six or seven of our homeless clients out of getting their second dose,” they said.

LaMaster also said board members did not take their calls for more advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ students in Maryland seriously. LaMaster further accused board members of threatening FreeState Justice’s 501(c)(3) status because of their ties to politicians they didn’t specifically identify.

“We don’t exist to help politicians get easy wins and in the General Assembly,” said LaMaster. “We exist to provide widespread advocacy work and transparent information to the community.”

LaMaster also accused board members of engaging in unethical behavior. 

They said Brianna January, the board’s vice president, repeatedly asked FreeState Justice staff to secure funding that would allow her to be hired as the organization’s policy director. LaMaster provided the Blade with a text message in which January asked them to hire her.

A text message between now former FreeState Justice Executive Director Jeremy LaMaster and Brianna January, vice president of the FreeState Justice board of directors. (Screenshot courtesy of Jeremy LaMaster)

LaMaster further reiterated their previous claim the board engages in white supremacism.

“When I say white supremacist culture within the board, this response is case and point of that culture, of that type of culture,” they said.

Westry on Wednesday declined to comment on LaMaster’s allegations.

“FreeState Justice has provided comments on this issue to several publications about the ongoing litigation with Jeremy LaMaster,” Westry told the Blade in an email. “We are in active litigation with LaMaster and will offer no further comment.”

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Maryland

Originally charged with hate crimes, Salisbury University students now face misdemeanor charges

Suspects allegedly attacked man they met on Grindr

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Twelve Salisbury University students who were initially charged with hate crimes are facing trial on misdemeanor charges in the next week. (Photo by Wesley Lapointe for the Baltimore Banner)

The first three Salisbury University students charged in an attack on a man they allegedly lured to an off-campus apartment using a dating app are set to stand trial this week.

Dylan Pietuszka, 20, Logan Clark, 20, and Sean Antone, 19, are among the 15 Salisbury students who in early November were taken into custody in connection with the attack and charged with hate crimes.

All three men standing trial this week are only facing two charges: Second degree assault and false imprisonment, which are both misdemeanors.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Maryland

Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus to hold town hall on Eastern Shore

Delmarva Pride Center, DoCoPride to co-host Wednesday event

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(Washington Blade photo by Ernesto Valle)

The Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus on Wednesday will hold a town hall with the Delmarva Pride Center and DoCoPride that will focus on legal protections for LGBTQ Marylanders.

The town hall will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Waterfowl Building (40 S. Hanson St.) in Easton. It will also be virtual for those who cannot attend in person.

A press release notes elected officials and ā€œstate and federal legal expertsā€ will talk about ā€œthe current status of protections for LGBTQ+ Marylanders and what the future may hold.ā€

ā€œAs Maryland prepares for the incoming federal administration, the LGBTQ+ Caucus is steadfast in reaffirming Marylandā€™s commitment to supporting all of its residents,ā€ said state Del. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County), who chairs the Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus. ā€œCoordination will be critical to building a comprehensive package of legislation that affirms the unique lived experiences of all its residents ā€” especially queer, nonbinary, and transgender people targeted by harmful legislation.ā€

Tina Jones, co-founder and chair of the Delmarva Pride Center in Easton, in the press release notes the LGBTQ community ā€œis facing unprecedented levels of bias and potential harm at this time.ā€

ā€œAs part of our safe spaces initiative, we are honored to have this opportunity to partner with the Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus and DoCo Pride to educate folks on their rights and stand together to say hate, bias, and harm have no place on the Eastern Shore or anywhere in Maryland,ā€ said Jones.

Registration for the event is here:

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Maryland

HIV decriminalization bill is FreeState Justiceā€™s top 2025 legislative priority

Measure named in honor of Carlton Smith, a prominent activist who died last year

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A bill that would decriminalize HIV in Maryland is a top legislative priority for FreeState Justice in 2025.

FreeState Justice Community Advocacy Manager Ronnie Taylor told the Washington Blade on Wednesday the Carlton R. Smith Jr. HIV Modernization Act seeks to repeal ā€œoutdated and stigmatizing laws that criminalize the transfer of HIV, bringing Marylandā€™s public health laws in line with modern science and best practices.ā€

The bill is named after Carlton Smith, a long-time LGBTQ activist known as the ā€œmayorā€ of Baltimoreā€™s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died last May. A similar measure died in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in 2024.

ā€œThe bill emphasizes public health education, anti-discrimination measures, and access to care, ensuring those living with HIV are supported rather than penalized,ā€ said Taylor.

Taylor pointed out FreeState Justice is working with the Maryland Legislative LGBTQIA+ Caucus and the Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs to build support for four additional bills and policy objectives.

ā€¢ The Birth Certificate Modernization Act would ā€œstreamline the process for amending gender markers on birth certificates to make it more accessible and affirming.ā€

ā€¢ The Commission on History, Culture and Civics would create ā€œan inclusive commission to center marginalized voices in Maryland’s history, culture, and civics education.ā€

ā€¢ The implementation of ā€œinclusive and diverse English Language Arts Standardsā€ in public schools that would ensure ā€œcurricula reflect diverse identities and lived experiences, fostering a more inclusive learning environment for students.ā€

ā€¢ The creation of a ā€œcomprehensive health education frameworkā€ that would establish ā€œa robust and inclusive health education framework for primary and secondary schools, focusing on equity and affirming all students.ā€

Taylor noted FreeState Justice is also ā€œexploring ways to supportā€ Compassion and Choices, a group that advocates for assisted dying, in their efforts in support of the Honorable Elijah E. Cummings End of Life Option Act. 

ā€œThe act has profound historical significance for LGBTQIA+ communities, as end-of-life options were first championed during the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1990s, highlighting the importance of dignity and choice,ā€ said Taylor.

She added the ā€œlegislative efforts reflect FreeState Justiceā€™s commitment to advancing equity and dignity for LGBTQIA+ Marylanders through policy advocacy and community collaboration.ā€

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