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“Arpaio of Maryland” featured in delegate’s pro-gun video
Listen to this articleANNAPOLIS — A pro-conceal carry video produced by a member of the Maryland House of Delegates is raising questions about the use of personnel and resources.
Wicomico County Sheriff Michael A. Lewis and a deputy appear in full uniform along with their department vehicles in a video produced by Del. Michael D. Smigiel, R-Upper Shore.
Lewis, in an interview, said he was disappointed that the video was made available to the public online.
“I was told by Delegate Smigiel that we were doing this as an educational piece for his colleagues up here in Annapolis,” Lewis said. “I did not approve nor did I condone the release on YouTube.”
When asked why he didn’t want the public to see the video, Lewis replied: “I just would have preferred not.”
The video, shot at the request of Smigiel, features the delegate walking down the street during the day with a .22-caliber rifle on his shoulder when he is stopped by a deputy of the sheriff’s department, whom Lewis identified as Cpl. Hal Phillips, who was on duty at the time the video was shot.
Smigiel, an attorney and staunch proponent of the Second Amendment and concealed carry laws, said he produced the video to show the public and lawmakers what would happen if citizens openly carried long guns — a right he said has been confirmed by the Office of the Maryland Attorney General.
Lewis said he, too, agrees with the rights of citizens to carry firearms, and he supports requiring an end to restricting concealed carry permits to licensed owners who can provide “a good and substantial reason,” he said.
“We’re trying to get the law changed here in Maryland,” Lewis said.
The delegate and the sheriff said the video, which was shot in an industrial park area of Salisbury, took less than 30 minutes.
Smigiel said he invited Lewis to appear in the video and called him the “Joe Arpaio of Maryland,” a reference to the outspoken and controversial sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., who has aggressively enforced immigration laws.
“A lot of people who get into politics don’t have the intestinal fortitude to stand up for the Constitution,” Smigiel said.
Lewis and Smigiel said the video is meant for advocacy and is not political. The delegate said he had no concerns about using taxpayer-funded resources for the making of the video.
“The best use of taxpayer dollars is to educate legislators on their constitutional obligation to the public,” said Smigiel.
Jennifer Bevan Dangel, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, agreed but said the use of working law enforcement officers and vehicles falls into an ethically gray area.
“It seems like this might be crossing a line,” Bevan Dangel said. “It certainly raises a lot of questions, and we encourage the sheriff and county officials to review the money and people used in the making of this video.”
Lewis, a 22-year veteran of the Maryland State Police who was elected sheriff in 2006, said the department has a policy about the use of personnel and vehicles in the making of videos and other politically related materials, but said he “could not cite the policy with any specificity.”
He declined to voluntarily provide a copy of the departmental policy.
“He should know his own department’s policies,” Bevan Dangel said. “If there is transparency up front then there’s usually not a problem with the public asking questions. It’s always the inability to answer questions up front that makes the public concerned.”
Jeffrey Ian Ross, a professor of criminology at the University of Baltimore, agreed with Bevan Dangel about the need for law enforcement agencies to provide the public with their policies when reasonable.
Ross said the department policies, if they exist, are key to determining if the appearance in the video is appropriate.
“It’s unusual, rare to see this kind of thing,” Ross said of Lewis’ appearance in the video. “Until you see the policy it’s hard to know if he did anything wrong.”
