Anti-Racist Education Alliance, Inc.

We are bringing this type of energy to the Oakland Mills Community!

Click on this survey to share what YOU want to see in the 🪴Stevens Forest Community Garden🪴

Survey: 🔗https://forms.gle/LKtxTRUTETaEJuTN6

Then join us on Monday, September 21 for our community wide meeting at the Other Barn!

Kofi Thomas transformed a 13,000-square-foot wasteland in Brooklyn into the Good Life Garden, creating a community space that has distributed more than 10,000 pounds of food to those in need.

Kofi helped turn a lot that was once filled with trash into a thriving garden where people can come together, grow food, and build connections. Through his dedication to gardening and community care, he created a green space focused on healing, growth, and support.

Kofi Thomas’ story shows how one person’s vision and commitment can transform an overlooked place into something meaningful. His work is a reminder that positive change can begin with caring for the community around us.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement from the Anti-Racist Education Alliance Inc. on the Attorney General’s Decision Regarding the Fatal Shooting of Alexander LaMorie

COLUMBIA, MD — The Anti-Racist Education Alliance Inc. (AREA) stands in unwavering solidarity with the family of Alexander “Alex” LaMorie following the Maryland Attorney General’s decision not to pursue criminal charges in connection with Alex’s fatal shooting by Howard County police officers. The LaMorie family profoundly disagrees with the legal conclusion reached by the Independent Investigations Division, and we share their belief that this tragedy demands greater accountability, transparency, and systemic change.

Alex, a 25-year-old autistic man, called 911 after becoming the victim of a malicious online extortion scam. Rather than receiving the specialized mental health intervention and compassionate crisis response he desperately needed, his call for help ended in tragedy.

The Attorney General’s report confirms that responding officers knew before arriving that Alex was experiencing a mental health crisis and intended to initiate an emergency psychiatric evaluation. Yet Alex never received the behavioral health intervention he needed. This outcome represents a catastrophic failure of our crisis response system.

“We are deeply saddened and angered by this systemic failure,” said Matthew Vaughn-Smith, President of the Anti-Racist Education Alliance Inc. “A wellness check should never result in a death sentence. As the father of a Black son with autism, I feel that this outcome further erodes what little trust exists between marginalized communities and law enforcement. We stand with the LaMorie family as they continue seeking transparency, accountability, and meaningful reforms so that no other family experiences this unimaginable loss.”

AREA also joins the LaMorie family in calling for greater transparency surrounding this investigation. According to the Attorney General’s report, investigators reviewed surveillance footage from Patuxent Commons in addition to body-worn camera footage. Yet the family has publicly stated that they have not been provided access to that footage or afforded a meaningful opportunity to ask questions about the investigation. Transparency is not simply releasing conclusions; it requires allowing the evidence and the investigative process to be understood by the public and, most importantly, by grieving families.

We also recognize and appreciate the actions Howard County Executive Calvin Ball has taken following Alex’s death. These include the acquisition of less-lethal tools; the establishment of the Task Force on Disability Inclusion, Safety, and Crisis Response; and a commitment to review crisis-response training and coordination between law enforcement and behavioral health professionals. He has also pledged to support the Howard County Police Department’s ongoing internal affairs investigation. These initiatives acknowledge that meaningful reforms are necessary, and we encourage county leaders to continue working alongside the autism community, behavioral health experts, disability advocates, and the LaMorie family to ensure these reforms result in measurable improvements rather than procedural changes alone.

However, much more remains to be done. This tragedy highlights the urgent need to improve how Howard County responds to behavioral health emergencies. Crisis response should prioritize preserving life through patience, communication, de-escalation, and disability-informed practices.

This heartbreaking and preventable tragedy also reinforces a core issue within our education system: the urgent need to eliminate the law enforcement presence in our public schools.

Alex LaMorie’s death is a sobering reminder that when police become the default crisis responders, the consequences can be irreversible. If a young autistic adult seeking help can lose his life during a wellness check, we must ensure that students with disabilities experiencing behavioral or emotional crises in our schools are met only by trained behavioral health professionals, restorative practitioners, counselors, psychologists, social workers, and other trauma-informed staff—not armed law enforcement. True school safety is built through relationships, thoughtful prevention, disability-informed care, and investments in mental health, not simply through a law enforcement presence.

The Anti-Racist Education Alliance Inc. stands firmly with the LaMorie family, the autism community, and every family who fears that calling 911 during a behavioral health crisis could end in tragedy. We support the family’s continued pursuit of transparency and answers, and we remain committed to advocating for crisis response systems that prioritize preservation of life, disability-informed care, and accountability. Alex LaMorie deserved compassion, dignity, and the opportunity to begin what he had so hopefully called “A New Chapter.”

His death must become the catalyst for lasting change.

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**About the Anti-Racist Education Alliance Inc.**

The Anti-Racist Education Alliance Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to dismantling systemic racism and institutional bias within our communities and educational infrastructure, advocating for policies that promote equity, safety, and justice for all students and citizens. The Anti-Racist Education Alliance, Inc. envisions communities where marginalized students are centered and affirmed, where educators of the global majority feel supported and whole, where truth is taught, and where justice is restorative and not punitive.

Media Contact
Matthew Vaughn-Smith, President & Founder
[email protected]

We would like to congratulate our President and visionary Founder, Matthew Vaughn-Smith on being the 2026 recipient of the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice Education Award. We are so impressed with his continued work of co-creating restorative spaces in education in spite of opposition from a system steeped in White Supremacy.

Stevens Forest Community Garden is coming to Oakland Mills! In partnership with Gardyn-Doulah we are bringing Food Sovereignty to the area!

Help us by donating TODAY!
$10 = gets small plants 🪴 and seeds
$25 = gets designer tools 🔧 for the garden
$50+= will help fund our Chained link fence that is required for us to start our vegetable garden
Donate here 🙏🏾:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antiracisteducation

All donations are tax deductible.

Do you live in Oakland Mills or the Greater Columbia Community?

We are partnering with Gardyn-Doulah to start a Community Garden in Stevens Forest and we want to hear from you!

Click on this quick survey and let us know your thoughts:
https://forms.gle/u9aMGBAacx2yNc7y9

Stevens Forest Community Sanctuary Garden Survey We want to hear from the community! Please complete the brief survey below. Thank you, The Anti-Racist Education Alliance, Inc.

Happy Freedom Day! Take this opportunity to buy Black, and support Black-led organizations leading the work of liberation ✊🏾