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Clerk of Courts Frank M. Conaway Sr., left, allegedly threw a punch and brandished handgun at blogger Adam Meister.

CONAWAY ALLEGEDLY
‘BRANDISHED’  GUN
AT ADAM MEISTER

Local activists came to the defense today of Circuit Court Clerk Frank M. Conaway Sr. at a sparsely attended rally outside the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse in downtown Baltimore.

Led by the NAACP’s Rev. Cortly C. D. Witherspoon and former Baltimore City Branch President Marvin L. “Doc” Cheatham, the group demanded a “full, thorough and transparent investigation” into an altercation that occurred Nov. 21 between Conaway and blogger Adam Meister outside the court clerk’s home in Northwest Baltimore, during which police officers on the scene reported that Conaway “brandished” a gun.

Immediately following the altercation the Office of the City State’s Attorney referred the matter to an outside prosecutor to conduct the investigation, in order “to avoid any conflict of interest or appearance thereof,” noting “Mr. Conaway’s position with the Court in which our Office conducts its business.”

However at Monday’s rally, Cheatham declared, “We find Adam Meister’s conduct suspect” and are “not going to sit here quietly and allow someone to try to intimidate any elected official.”

Meister has said he did not personally see a gun but that Conaway threw a punch at him which missed. Conway retorted by stating that if he had in fact tried to punch Meister — which he insists he did not do — he “would not have missed.”

The altercation occurred as Meister was jogging past Conaway’s home on Liberty Heights Avenue, where he alleges Conaway and his daughter, outgoing City Councilwoman Belinda K. Conaway (D-7th), do not live, despite their claims to the contrary.

The younger Conaway lost her bid for reelection this fall largely on the basis of having been outed by Meister for allegedly not living in her Baltimore City district as required by law and for lying about it to cover up.

Clerk Conaway’s attorney, J. Wyndal Gordon, inserted race and religion into the mix, according to the Baltimore Sun, by alleging: “When you have a situation where you have a Jewish victim [Meister] and an African-American male [Conaway], you have things happen differently than if it happened to be a regular case.”

Gordon also asserted, The Sun reported, that “‘perhaps because of their commonality in their religion,’ State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein was handling the Conaway investigation differently.”

Conaway has a gun permit, but it expired in March. Without a valid permit, carrying a handgun other than on his own property is a misdemeanor; thus Conaway could face up to three years in jail if convicted.

He denies having left his property during the altercation, and various accounts differ as to whether he did or did not.

Meister, who acknowledges yelling insults at Conaway, told The Sun that religion was “irrelevant.”

— VoB Staff report

WATCH FILM OF MONDAY’S DOWNTOWN DEMONSTRATION BY BALTIMORE VIDEOGRAPHER BILL HUGHES  (click here). ^[2]

READ BLOGGER ADAM MEISTER’S RESPONSE TO BELINDA CONAWAY’S FAILED LAWSUIT REGARDING HIS CHARGES THAT SHE DOES NOT LIVE IN HER CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT AS REQUIRED BY LAW  (click here).  ^[3]