Capital Gazette Benefit Concert To Feature MD's Good Charlotte
May 18, 2020 | News | No Comments
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland native rockers Good Charlotte will headline a benefit concert July 28 to benefit the Capital Gazette shooting victims’ families and survivors. The concert is scheduled for one month after the June 28 mass shooting at the newspaper office by a gunman accused of nursing a years-long grudge against the Capital for a story about his stalking conviction.
City officials said the concert will also promote freedom of the press and its importance to democracy. Headliners Good Charlotte have connections to the city and come from Waldorf, Maryland. “Annapolis will always be dear to us, and we couldn’t be more proud of how the city has handled this tragedy,” said Benji and Joel Madden, band founders, in a statement. “It’s only natural for us to want to do our part for the city and the people who have given us a place in Maryland that we still call home.”
The Good Charlotte concert will begin in the afternoon with several musical performances and guest speakers coming from the world of journalism. Proceeds will be directed to the fund established for the victims and survivors and journalism scholarships. The event will take place from a stage on College Avenue with the Maryland State House in the background and the audience located on Bladen Street, extending down toward Rowe Boulevard, a city news release said.
“This horrible tragedy cannot be forgotten. Sadly, our country’s attention will soon shift from this event that has forever changed our city. We will not stand by and allow the memory of these slain journalists to be forgotten,” said Mayor Gavin Buckley. “We also stand up for our journalists and our freedom of the press, and this concert is just one step in that direction.”
The Capital Gazette employees killed are:
“When news of the Capital Gazette mass shooting broke, we were filled with shock and heartbreak. It’s hard not to be overcome by a feeling of helplessness for the victims and their families, and to be discouraged that this has become a reoccurring headline in all of our lives,” said the Madden brothers. “This tragedy hit us hard, not only because it happened in the city where our extended families live and work, and the place that gave our band its start, but because of what it seemed to symbolize: An attack on journalists and the ability we have in this country to share information freely. It’s an attack on freedom of speech and expression and the right to feel safe in doing so.”
The event will be ticketed. Information regarding tickets will be available soon.
The local fundraiser established to help the families, victims and survivors of the attack is The Capital Gazette Families Fund, which will be managed through the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County. The Michael and Jacky Ferro Family Foundation will match up to $1 million of donations, according to tronc, the parent company of The Baltimore Sun Media Group, which includes the Capital.
The fund is described this way on the foundation website: In honor of the Capital Gazette victims, their colleagues, and their families in Annapolis, MD, this fund has been established to provide immediate relief and long-term recovery support to those individuals directly and indirectly affected by the tragedy. Grants can be applied to grief and trauma counseling, medical expenses not covered by insurance, funeral expenses, and other associated expenses and services.
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Bloomberg Government reporter Madi Alexander started a GoFundMe page to help the shooting victims. The fund had received about $206,000 in donations by July 11.
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“Journalists at the paper are reporting on the deaths of their own colleagues. Please give what you can to help the Capital Gazette newsroom and their journalists,” Alexander wrote. “Our hearts break for our colleagues in Annapolis and we want to do whatever we possibly can to help them pay for medical bills, funeral costs, newsroom repairs, and any other unforeseen expenses that might arise as a result of this terrible shooting.”
Jarrod Ramos, the accused gunman charged with five counts of murder after opening fire at the Capital Gazette, was apparently seeking revenge for a July 2011 article the Capital Gazette published about a criminal case against him for harassing a former high school classmate so severely she feared for her life. The article was apparently a source of anger that simmered for years.
PHOTO: Capital Gazette staffers lead a vigil June 29 in Annapolis, one day after a gunman killed five newspaper employees. Photo by Bethany Swaim, bethanyswain.net, used with permission.
PHOTO: Annapolis Strong banner placed outside the Capital Gazette office on Bestgate Road, by Patch Editor Elizabeth Janney.
