Ocean City mayor call for state legislation against “take over” events

Salisbury, Md. – “Take Over” events, large gatherings that usually descend on resort towns, are viral trends that have spread nationwide. In Ocean City, officials are reaching out at the state level to do something about them.

“If there’s going to be an individual that is going to cause people to gather with the explicit purpose to create destruction problems, scare people, cause public harm, disobey laws, cause destruction to private property,” Ocean City Mayor Richard Meehan said. “People need to be held accountable.”

Last month, Meehan reached out to Governor Wes Moore for his support on state legislation that would allow local law enforcement to enforce penalties and seek restitution for damages and public safety costs.

“We do need to seek legislation or some type of state involvement to do to directly address this situation moving forward,” Meehan said.

However, Meehan emphasized that any legislation would not be about infringing on First Amendment Rights.

“It’s not about making so people can’t get together, people can’t be with their friends, people can’t come to Ocean City, and if they want to get a special event, you know, to hold an event or some type of gathering, certainly they can do that,” he said. “But that’s a lawful gathering. The difference is when it is explicitly for the purpose of causing disruption, causing commotion. Really draining the resources of police departments, causing panic amongst our residents, visitors, or those living in other areas.”

Meehan said he has found support with state legislators State Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-District 38) and Del. Wayne Hartman (R-District 38C).

“Unfortunately, on the Eastern Shore here, some of these takeover events included, you know, guns,” Hartman said. “So it’s a serious matter. And fortunately, we have a good number of folks here on the shore that are interested in taking it up.”

Hartman said takeover events have happened in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties, prompting bipartisan support for pursuing state legislation.