Guardians of the First Amendment Memorial to be Dedicated on Third Anniversary of Capital Gazette Tragedy
Annapolis, MD - On Monday, June 28, 2021 at 11 a.m., dignitaries, family and friends will gather in Annapolis in remembrance of the five lives lost at The Capital newspaper three years ago at a mass shooting that was the largest killing of journalists in U.S. history.
Also at the event, the “Guardians of the First Amendment” memorial will be dedicated. The memorial sits on a plaza at the corner of Compromise and Newman Streets. It is designed around an oak tree, softening the plaza with its texture and shade. The memorial consists of a rounded brick edifice with two vertical panels. The first one shows the Capital Gazette and another the First Amendment. Five pillars represent the lives of those lost in the Capital Gazette shooting. This will be a place to express, to gather, and reflect on the meaning of First Amendments, especially freedom of the press.
The memorial seeks to unite the community, to honor the freedoms established by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and to honor Rebecca Smith, Wendi Winters, Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, and John McNamara, the five journalists and staff who were killed in a mass shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper on June 28, 2018.
WHAT: Dedication of Annapolis “Guardians of the First Amendment” Memorial
WHO: Journalist and author David Simon, House Speaker Adrienne Jones, County Executive Steuart Pittman, Mayor Gavin Buckley, author Laura Lippman, survivors of the Capital-Gazette shooting, families of the victims, and local and national journalists
WHEN: 11 a.m. June 28, 2021
WHERE: Compromise Street at Newman Street, Annapolis