The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-17)

B4 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, MAY 17 , 2022

BY EMILY DAVIES

Two people in custody died and

another was hospitalized in two

separate incidents inside the D.C.

jail on Friday and Sunday, and

authorities are investigating

whether they might have over-

dosed on drugs, according to a

spokesperson for the city’s De-

partment of Corrections.

Officials said that they were

waiting on autopsy reports to

determine causes of death but

that there were no signs of trau-

ma or suicide in either incident.

The spokesperson said officials

believed that the incidents could

be related to drug overdoses,

based on “initial observation,” but

did not provide more details. Jail

officials administered the emer-

gency overdose treatment Narcan

to the man who was hospitalized,

authorities said.

Ramone O’Neal, 28, died Fri-

day, according to the Department

of Corrections. Two days later,

Sean Lee, 37, died, and his cell-

mate, 40-year-old Marcel Jack-

son, was hospitalized after a team

administered Narcan and per-

formed CPR on him inside the

jail, according to authorities.

Neither families nor attorneys

for O’Neal and Jackson could be

immediately reached. Lee’s attor-

ney, Tom Baldwin, said he was

“just devastated” by the news.

The deaths are the latest sign of

trouble at the D.C. jail, which has

faced intense scrutiny since the

U.S. Marshals Service published a

letter in November announcing

plans to transfer about 400 peo-

ple facing federal charges to a

prison in Lewisburg, Pa., over

allegations of their mistreatment.

The letter, which followed com-

plaints from defendants held af-

ter the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, described

how those in custody lived in

unsanitary conditions and were

denied food and water.

The interim director of the

Department of Corrections, Tom

Faust, has conceded that officials

have struggled to keep contra-

band out of the jail. At an over-

sight hearing in March, Faust said

he was focused on creating a

“safe, secure and humane” envi-

ronment after a correctional offi-

cer was charged with smuggling

narcotics, knives and other

banned items into the facility.

That case was investigated by the

Department of Corrections, the

U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI.

On Sunday, D.C. Council mem-

ber Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8)

spoke from outside the jail about

concerns of mistreatment and

inhumane conditions at the facil-

ity.

“Two deaths within three

days,” said White, who is running

for mayor. “Something is going on

in here that we need to know

about and make sure that we

address so there won’t be more

deaths.”

THE DISTRICT

Jail o∞cials

investigate

possible

overdoses

Incidents inside facility

leave two inmates dead

and one hospitalized

ery County faces, including edu-
cational disparities and economic
stagnation, Blair said in an inter-
view this month. Steered by an
advisory board of 14 people, the
organization has “evolved to fit
the unique needs of our commu-
nity,” Blair said.
His efforts to be more civically
engaged in the past four years
have impressed some in Mont-
gomery and boosted his bid to
lead the county of 1.1 million. But
others remain skeptical of the
Potomac millionaire, who has
largely self-funded his political
ambitions.
“I have been blown away by his
commitment through covid to
helping our neighbors in need,”
said Maryland Sen. Cheryl C. Ka-
gan (D-Montgomery), who did
not vote for him in 2018 but plans
to back him this year. “He has a
track record of success.”
Montgomery County Council
member Hans Riemer (D-At
Large), who is also running for
county executive, said Blair has
been “creating appearances.”
“He’s been spreading a lot of
money around,” Riemer said
about Blair’s work at CAPS. “I
don’t know that he’s taken on any
issues that require real leader-
ship.”
In the immediate aftermath of
the 2020 killing of George Floyd
in Minnesota, Blair said in an
“equity statement” on the CAPS
website that he was committed to
dismantling systemic racism,
pledging at the time to donate to
his local Black Lives Matter and
American Civil Liberties Union
chapters. That summer, Blair do-
nated $1,000 to the Maryland
Democratic Party for a Black Lives
Matter panel event, said Blair
campaign spokesman Aaron
Kraut. There is no record of him
donating to the ACLU, Kraut add-
ed.
Blair also said in his equity
statement that he would “require
transparency from our local and
state police departments” and call
on elected officials to implement
“public accountability measures.”
Ten months later, while launching
his campaign, Blair said he did
not see police reform as a priority
in Montgomery.
“He’s out of touch with this
community,” Riemer said of Blair.
In an emailed statement, Blair
retorted that Riemer was “mis-
representing” his work at CAPS,
adding that his comments were
“petty and another distraction to
the real challenges facing our
county.”
A Montgomery native, Blair ran
a prescription drug benefits com-
pany before seeking elected office
for the first time in 2018. He
vowed to cut taxes and revitalize
the county’s lagging economy, cul-
tivating a strong following after
earning the endorsement of The
Washington Post’s editorial
board. (The Post’s editorial board
is separate from its news opera-
tion.)
His opponents criticized him at
the time for not voting regularly

BLAIR FROM B1

in previous Democratic primaries

and accused him of attempting to

“buy the election” by pouring

$5.4 million of his own money

into his campaign.

After losing the primary, Blair

announced in May 2019 that he

would be launching CAPS, telling

reporters that one of his priorities

was to study how to recruit and

retain teachers of color in Mary-

land public schools. “We’ll look at

best practices from around the

country,” he said. “And my hope is

to partner with local government

and local officials to roll all of our

ideas out.”

CAPS released a study on dis-

parities in Montgomery public

schools in September 2019, but

the study did not explore how to

diversify the teaching staff. CAPS

did not work with county officials

to implement policy changes.

Blair said CAPS did research

“behind the scenes” into solutions

but decided not to move forward

with advocacy after coming

across the Black and Brown Coali-

tion, another nonprofit that seeks

to improve learning conditions

for minority and low-income stu-

dents.

“Partnering with them made

more sense than going at it alone,”

Blair said.

CAPS shared research with the

coalition, and the Blair family

foundation donated money to

help the coalition hire full-time

staffers, he said. In a recent mailer

to voters, Blair said he worked to

“close the achievement gap” in

classrooms “through his role” at

the coalition.

Byron Johns, co-founder of the

Black and Brown Coalition and

education chair of the county’s

NAACP chapter, said Blair was

one of four major donors to the

nonprofit but does not sit on the

coalition’s board or influence

what the group advocates for.

“His role is as a supporter,”

Johns said, “both financially,

through his foundation, and per-

sonally — he’s attended some

events.”

In 2019, Blair also said he was

launching a “seed-stage incubator

program for undergraduate and

graduate students in Maryland

institutions for higher education.”

A CAPS news release at the time

said the program would provide

space for start-ups at an office

building in Rockville and connect

participants with established

businesses through the Greater

Bethesda Chamber of Commerce.

“The first class of entrepre-

neurs is expected this year,” the

news release said.

The program did not material-

ize. The chamber’s chief execu-

tive, Allie Williams, said last week

that the chamber has not been

involved in any business incuba-

tors.

Blair denied that the program

failed to launch, saying instead

that it evolved. In June 2020, Blair

donated money to help the Uni-

versities at Shady Grove launch an

entrepreneurship lab that would,

among other things, “host work-

shops ... to support entrepreneur-

ial learning” and “connect start-

ups to community resources.”

CAPS would “help to develop

programming for the Entrepre-

neurship Lab that aligns with eco-

nomic development and growth

in Montgomery County,” a news

release said at the time.

Steve Simon, a spokesman for

the Universities at Shady Grove,

said Blair’s family foundation do-

nated $250,000 to launch the lab

and an additional $145,000 to

support its operations.

Marc Steren, director of the

entrepreneurship lab, said the

Blair foundation “has been a won-

derful collaborator for us.” The lab

has hosted classes of college stu-

dents, has held hackathons and

recently organized an eight-week

“equity incubator” for women and

minority-led businesses. Blair has

spoken at several events and

served as a judge for one class,

Steren said, but has not helped

with programming.

During the pandemic, CAPS

implemented several initiatives

on its own, Blair noted. In 2020, it

distributed 2,000 virtual learning

kits for low-income students and

donated 90 remote health moni-

toring devices to the county’s Afri-

can American Health Program for

a telehealth pilot program. More

recently, CAPS ran a six-month

workshop focused on helping

Black residents run for elected

office; three of a dozen partici-

pants are now running for local

office.

Over the past four years, Blair

said, he has become increasingly

concerned about Montgomery’s

future, particularly its lagging

economy and affordable-housing

crisis.

“We’re missing executive lead-

ership,” he said. “We’re missing

that ability to get things done.”

Aside from Blair, there are

three other Democratic candi-

dates for county executive: Elrich,

Riemer and Gaithersburg resi-

dent Peter James. The primary

election is on July 19.

Blair touts nonprofit on his campaign website

BILL O'LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST

David Blair speaks at a 2018 candidate forum during his previous campaign for Montgomery County executive. Blair says on his campaign

site that his nonprofit, the Council for Advocacy and Policy Solutions, “created and executed on numerous innovative initiatives.”

CHERYL DIAZ MEYER FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

County council member Hans Riemer (D-At Large), left, in 2019.

Riemer, who is also running for county executive, called Blair “out

of touch with this community.” Blair called his attacks “petty.”

“I have been blown

away by his

commitment through

covid to helping our

neighbors in need.”

Maryland Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan,

(D-Montgomery), on David Blair

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