Threats toward campaign volunteer in Anne Arundel County being investigated as hate bias incident

A hate bias investigation is underway in Anne Arundel County after threatening and racial comments were made to a campaign volunteer, police said. 

The incident happened in Crofton as a volunteer for Councilman Pete Smith was canvassing in a neighborhood. 

Smith, who is running for Anne Arundel County Executive, shared a video of the incident on social media. 

"Our campaign encountered an interaction that made us all pause to think about the ugliness and hatred that seems to have been unleashed everywhere," Smith said in the video. 

"One of our campaign volunteers was verbally assaulted with racist remarks and death threats while canvassing in our community," he added. 

The video, which includes a trigger warning for harsh language, captures a person yelling at a volunteer to get out of the neighborhood. The person uses a racial slur and threatens to run the volunteer over.

"This should not be happening here, and we cannot allow it to become normal," Smith said.

Current County Executive Steuart Pittman addressed the situation in a social media post and said the county's Office of Equity and Human Rights is engaged in the investigation. 

"Hate has no home here in Anne Arundel County," Pittman said. "I hope that this horrific act reminds our residents that regardless of your political affiliation, we are all human beings who can and must support one another when our common values and welfare are under attack."

The investigation into this incident is ongoing.