BALTIMORE — Former federal prosecutor and Maryland deputy attorney general Thiru Vignarajah filed to run as a Democrat for State’s Attorney for Baltimore City.
Vignarajah said in a press release that decision comes as “Baltimore faces the worst murder rate in its history and State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby faces a federal criminal trial that could render her constitutionally ineligible to serve."
“In the last seven years, 2,400 victims have been murdered, we have 500 fewer police, and many have lost faith that things can get better. If any American city is facing a crisis worse than ours — a record-shattering crime crisis and a crisis of confidence — I am unaware of it,” Vignarajah said in a statement. “I have devoted my life to public service, to fighting crime as a federal and city prosecutor, and I simply can’t watch this human catastrophe from the sideline when I know I can do something to stop it.”
Vignarajah, who began his career as a federal prosecutor, also served as Chief of Major Investigations in the City State’s Attorney’s Office and as Deputy Attorney General of Maryland, before becoming a litigation partner at DLA Piper in Baltimore.
When Vignarajah was named Deputy Attorney General, former Commissioner Anthony Batts called him a “once-in-a-generation lawyer and leader.”
The son of Baltimore City public school teachers, Vignarajah attended local public schools (Edmondson Heights Elementary through Woodlawn High School) before Yale University and Harvard Law School.
Vignarajah filed Tuesday morning at the Baltimore City Board of Elections.
