The raid on Baltimore’s City Hall came without warning, catching everyone off guard.
READ MORE: FBI agents search at Baltimore Mayor Pugh's Ashburton homes, attorney's office, and City Hall office
“I wasn’t aware of anything that’s going on,” said Ex Officio Mayor Jack Young, “The city’s still moving forward, and I’m running things. I’m on my way to a meeting.”
But it was anything but business as usual as FBI and IRS agents spent five hours executing a search warrant before emerging with boxes of potential evidence.
“The search was limited to the Mayor’s suite of offices on the second floor of City Hall,” said City Solicitor Andre Davis, “I have made the determination that disclosure of the return at this time would be premature and may well impede the success of the ongoing investigation.”
While Mayor Catherine Pugh’s book dealings, her ethics and her role in awarding city contracts are the focus of several investigations, City Councilman Leon Pickett welcomes the feds tracking down every lead.
READ MORE: See all of WMAR-2 News' coverage of the "Healthy Holly" scandal
“I think the investigation should go to its fullest extent. If there are individuals who have done things that are unethical or illegal, then we should find that out,” said Pinkerton, “So I don’t care if it be the first or the sixth floor.”
The focus for now, though, appears to rest solely on the mayor drawing the ire of some of those who voted her into office.
“It’s a slap in the face to pretty much perform a white collar crime and then condemn every other criminal in the city,” said Jameela Smith of West Baltimore, “She deserves to be in jail.”
A mayor who hasn’t been formally charged with anything, but whose controversy is drawing the kind of attention to a city it so desperately tries to avoid.
“It’s really embarrassing for Baltimore to be on the national news again for something negative,” said Young.
“Do you hope that this puts her over the edge? That she goes ahead and resigns?," WMAR-2 asked.
“I mean, that’s her personal, I don’t believe in kicking a person while they’re down," Young said, "but that’s her personal opinion whether she’s going to resign or not.”
