Former troops and legislators fear the new reaction force could be used to stifle peaceful protests or intimidate voters in future elections, while a public safety analyst told The Baltimore Sun the use of the National Guard to address crime is unprecedented, costly and unwise.

Across the United States, “No Kings” demonstrations have popped up in most major cities since President Donald Trump took office, including in Baltimore. These protests have been aimed at issues such as increased health care costs included in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that passed Congress this summer, or the current federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.

And at times, Trump has sought to use the National Guard to quash protests, as he attempted to do in Portland following daily protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility that had turned contentious. Frustrated when the governor of Oregon declined to send National Guard troops to Portland, the Trump administration responded by federalizing the soldiers.

The Maryland Military Department declined to comment on the reaction force. A spokesman for the National Guard told The Sun these reaction forces are “not new” and that they are deployed in times of “civil disturbance operations, crowd control, area security, critical infrastructure protection and disaster response.

“These on-call elements have existed for approximately 20 years in every state and territory as a response force available to governors,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the executive order is intended to “fine-tune, augment and adequately resource National Guard civil support elements” in advance of FIFA World Cup matches in 11 U.S. cities (none of which are in Maryland), the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and celebrations of the nation’s 250th year.

“As commander in chief of the Maryland National Guard, the governor remains confident in the Guard’s commitment to their mission protecting and assisting the residents of Maryland under his command,” Gov. Wes Moore’s Senior Advisor and Communications Director David Turner told The Sun in an emailed statement.

The National Guard troops were deployed this summer to Los Angeles — which a federal judge in September ruled illegal — and the president has threatened to send troops to other U.S. cities in California, Texas and Oregon.

At a gathering of military brass in October, Trump called for using U.S. cities as a training ground for troops and warned of an “invasion from within.”

National Guard deployments not tied to long-term crime declines

This use of the National Guard as a reaction force is “unprecedented,” said Hanna Love, a Brookings Institution fellow on public safety.

“If you look at the patterns of where this administration has focused its deployment of National Guard troops, it’s a lot of Black cities, a lot of ‘woke’ places,” she said. “We’re seeing targeting of places that have a lot to do with the demographics and the political leanings of those places, which is alarming.”

Love said using the National Guard as a police force is expensive and ineffective in the long run.

“If you’re trying to think of the most effective ways to ease civil disorder, this is one of the most costly ways you can do it, and it really does underline the idea that at its core, crime is a local issue,” Love said. “The times we’ve seen policing be the most effective in high-violence areas is when you have police from the community, rooted in the community and have strong relationships with the community.”

Love said Washington, D.C., and Memphis have seen a decline in crime after National Guard troops were deployed to police those cities’ streets. However, she said data indicated that a decrease in crime would be short-term.

“Rather than solving why the crime is happening, it’s putting a Band-Aid and pushing crime underground,” Love said. “We don’t have evidence that crime declines from the National Guard and federal law enforcement [deployments] have resulted in lasting declines.”

‘Absolutely intimidating’

Navpreet Sandher, a former Marine who served from 2009-2013 and deployed to Afghanistan on a combat mission for much of 2011, now lives in Baltimore and works as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. He plans to speak at a veteran-led protest on Monday about the quick reaction forces creation and deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles.

When uniformed troops, holding weapons or outfitted in riot gear, show up to peaceful protests or stand outside polls, it has a chilling effect on freedom of speech and the feeling of safety among residents, Sandher said. He is worried the National Guard could be used to depress voter turnout or sway election outcomes.

“It’s absolutely intimidating,” Sandher said. “Local leaders are being more complicit than I think they should. Ultimately, [military leaders] can’t say no [to orders] but maybe they shouldn’t stand by and just watch it unfold.”

Sandher said he’d like to see the National Guard stand down from these strike forces in the short term and for deployments to U.S. cities to cease, but in the long term, he hopes the government funnels less money into the military and more into needed services like public transportation and health care.

“More military’s not the answer to all of our problems,” Sandher said. “Your neighbors aren’t the root of all your problems.”

National Guard as election security?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat representing Maryland, also said he was concerned National Guard troops could be used to deter people from voting.

“Maryland’s National Guard fulfills a number of critical missions in our state,” Chris Van Hollen said in an email statement to The Sun. “Yet, the Trump Administration wants to turn National Guards across the country into a domestic police force to discourage Americans from exercising their constitutional rights.

“All Americans should be concerned about the weaponization of our military here at home, and what this may mean now and into the future, especially when it comes to the sanctity of our elections and safeguarding Americans’ voting rights.”

Alleged voter fraud and election security have long been talking points in Trump’s campaigns for office over the past decade, with the president alleging that people without citizenship are voting in great numbers. There is no evidence that either claim is accurate. Voting as a noncitizen is a felony, punishable with jail time and deportation, and data shows it is “exceedingly rare.”

In 2016 nonpartisan law and policy organization, the Brennan Center for Justice, surveyed local election officials in 42 jurisdictions with high immigrant populations on voter participation. Researchers found 30 cases in which suspected noncitizens voted out of 23.5 million ballots cast, or 0.0001%.

Earlier this year, Trump issued an order on voting that would have required people to show documented proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or U.S. passport, when registering to vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this article. Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

The state’s National Guard has prioritized creating the quick reaction force and intends to dedicate hundreds of soldiers to the effort.

“As Commander in Chief of the Maryland National Guard, the Governor remains confident in the Guard’s commitment to their mission protecting and assisting the residents of Maryland under his command,” Gov. Wes Moore’s Senior Advisor and Communications Director David Turner, told The Baltimore Sun in an email.

Signed by the Pentagon’s National Guard Bureau’s Director of Operations, Maj. Gen Ronald Burkett, the Oct. 8 memo was first reported on by The Guardian.

The memo requires quick reaction forces to be able to deploy 25% of the force within eight hours, 50% within 12 hours and 100% within 24 hours.

When reached for comment, the Maryland Military Department referred The Sun to the National Guard Bureau of Public Affairs, which confirmed the formation of a Maryland-based quick reaction force, to be in place no later than April 1, 2026.

The memo followed an Aug. 25 executive order, No. 14339, a National Guard spokesman told The Baltimore Sun.

“These on-call elements have existed for approximately 20 years in every state and territory as a response force available to governors for a wide range of tasks,” the spokesman said in an email. “Their capabilities include civil disturbance operations, crowd control, area security, critical infrastructure protection and disaster response.”

The spokesman said the action is intended to “fine-tune, augment and adequately resource National Guard civil support elements” in advance of FIFA World Cup matches in 11 U.S. cities, the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and celebrations of the nation’s 250th year.

Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

“The entire time I’m reading it I’m thinking, ‘Replevin,’” Cogen said. “I’m saying in my head, ‘Replevin!’ That could be a remedy.”

Although Cogen can’t give legal advice, he contacted The Sun to make sure residents know how to recoup their personal belongings should they ever find themselves in a similar situation.

“This woman has personal property in possession of somebody else, allegedly in violation of the law,” Cogen said. “A writ of replevin … is geared toward returning property through the civil process.”

Nefertiti Lyles-Myers, a full-time social worker, had been on her way to her weekend job as a yacht captain headed to the Port of Baltimore. Before she could get there, however, her car broke down in the street, less than two miles from her destination.

She gathered her things and called her mechanic, but Frankford Towing arrived first. They towed her car to their Quad Street location, but when she arrived to inspect her car and retrieve her items, including several laptops intended for clients, they refused to allow her access. A representative even refused to comply when a Baltimore City police officer told them that state law required they allow her to collect her belongings.

The officer ultimately told Lyles-Myers this was a civil matter and that they could not help her any further. He directed her to the district court.

As of October, she owes the towing company more than $2,000, she said.

Under Maryland State Code governing commercial law, 16A–101, “an authorized tow company shall provide a vehicle owner or operator … with reasonable access to a vehicle … so that the vehicle owner or operator or the owner’s designee may access and collect any personal property or cargo contained in the vehicle, regardless of whether any payment has been made for the authorized tow company’s services.”

In civil situations like this, Cogen said, residents should reach out to the district court for a writ of replevin.

Residents can file a writ of replevin on their local district court website. Once a writ is filed, a sheriff’s deputy will serve a “show cause” warrant on the person or business accused of withholding property illegally, according to Cogen’s office.

The information or evidence will go back to the district court for a judge’s ruling. If the judge rules in the plaintiff’s favor, the deputy will ensure the transaction is carried out — even if the plaintiff owes the person or business money, as the law recognizes people can be irreparably harmed outside of any judgments against them.

“If people knew their rights under the law and that this filing existed, maybe they could find some relief,” Cogen said.

Cogen’s office is familiar with towing — under him, the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office purchased its own tow truck using forfeited assets so it didn’t have to contract out tows or wait weeks for the city to collect abandoned or blighted vehicles or Sheriff’s Office patrol cars that had been in accidents.

“When our deputies would break down or someone was parked illegally around the court facility, it would take forever for us to get someone to [collect the car]. And we were doing traffic enforcement, and we wanted to have the ability to self-enforce.

“Abandoned vehicles, the city was saying it would take a month to pick them up,” Cogen said. “People were really upset about it. That’s one of the ways we can help the community: we can get rid of abandoned vehicles in under-resourced neighborhoods. People view it as blight and disorder.”

Have you had an issue with a towing company in Baltimore? Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

The woman behind the desk sighed and ducked her head behind the sign posted on the window while the officer, the back of whose vest read “GILLIS,” proceeded to read from his phone.

“Just for everyone’s knowledge,” Officer Gillis said, “The 2024 Maryland Statute … states that you cannot stop someone from accessing their property.”

The Baltimore Sun reviewed the video Lyles-Myers recorded of the officer’s interaction with Frankford’s staff. The police have since told her it’s a civil issue.

Frankford had towed Lyles-Myers’ 2017 Hyundai Accent when it broke down in the street while she was on her way to her weekend job. Despite state law, despite a visit by Baltimore City Police, despite repeated visits and requests by Lyles-Myers, the towing company continues to deny her the right to inspect her vehicle and retrieve her belongings without paying the tow fee.

“They said it a lot more rudely than that,” she said. “I’m just paraphrasing.”

Frankford Towing Company emailed Lyles-Myers a copy of its policy at her request, which The Sun also reviewed.

“NO VEHICLE IS ACCESSIBLE UNTIL THE BILL ASSOCIATED IS SETTLED,” the document read, printed in all-caps.

By October, she said, Frankford told her she owed more than $2,000 if she wanted to access her belongings.

“I felt like I was getting scammed,” she said. “I felt like I was truly getting played.”

Dick Bonnett and Paula Protani, named as Frankford’s owner and manager per state business documents, could not be reached for comment by publication. But Frankford has made headlines for its business practices before; it was one of several certified towing companies paying the police department a portion of the tow fee in exchange for directing tows their way. The practice led to an audit and a policy change.

Maryland has some of the strongest protections in the U.S. for people who’ve had their vehicles towed — but those laws don’t matter when companies refuse to follow them, said U.S. PIRG Consumer Watchdog Director Teresa Murray, who has studied and evaluated towing laws across the nation since 2020.

“If you have companies that are not obeying the law, then the laws aren’t necessarily worth all that much,” she said.

‘No doubt … it was dangerous’

Lyles-Myers, a full-time social worker, had been on her way to her weekend job as a yacht captain, headed to the Port of Baltimore. Before she could get there, however, her car broke down just past 2771 Clinton St., next to the Maryland Department of Transportation Authority’s police building. The MDTA could not be reached for comment by publication.

The Sun visited the site of the breakdown with Lyles-Myers, matching up photos of her broken-down car she took that day to the surrounding area.

Lyles-Myers pointed to the sign outside the building that proclaimed it a tow-away zone.

“It was in the right of way,” Lyles-Myers said of her car. “There’s no doubt that it was dangerous.”

The day it broke down, she said, she gathered her things, called her mechanic, and asked him to come pick it up, sending him a dropped pin of where she’d left the vehicle. Then, she got in an Uber and headed to work, unable to wait any longer as the departure time crept closer.

About 15 minutes later, her mechanic called her — his tow driver couldn’t find her car.

“I said, ‘What?’” she recalled. “‘It’s a big, bright-red car.’ And he was like, ‘No worries.’”

She didn’t hear from him again on Sunday or on Monday, either, but it was Labor Day and she assumed the shop was closed, she said. But when she called on Tuesday, he told her he didn’t have her car.

Lyles-Myers assumed the worst.

“I thought it had been stolen,” she said.

She called Baltimore City police and asked them to check their database to see if it had been reported towed, which is required by city law. It did not appear in their database, so Lyles-Myers reported it stolen and assumed she had to move on.

According to Kelley Blue Book, a 2017 Hyundai Accent sedan is worth between $5,000 and $8,000, depending on its condition and mileage.

When she arrived at Frankford, however, she wanted to make sure it was her vehicle, get it inspected to see if it was fixable, and retrieve her belongings for safekeeping in the meantime. She’d left behind several work items, including five laptops she intended to give out to clients. But Frankford, she said, refused to allow her access to the car without payment, which is illegal under state law.

Under Maryland State Code governing commercial law, 16A–101, “an authorized tow company shall provide a vehicle owner or operator … with reasonable access to a vehicle … so that the vehicle owner or operator or the owner’s designee may access and collect any personal property or cargo contained in the vehicle, regardless of whether any payment has been made for the authorized tow company’s services.”

Consumer protections

Maryland is a standout for consumer protections from unsavory towing practices, Murray said. A 2022 study Murray compiled for U.S. PIRG showed that Maryland was far and away better on protections than the majority of states.

It sets a maximum towing and storage rate, requires businesses to post tow-away signs and notify drivers when they’ve towed their cars, and allows drivers access to their car and their items without paying the tow fee.

The one part where Maryland failed? Predatory towing, also known as patrol towing.

“Patrol towing is leaving it up to the tow driver themselves to deem any item offending and to tow the car themselves,” said Baltimore City District 3 Councilman Ryan Dorsey.

In 2022, state legislation went into effect, set to combat what was considered excessive towing fees and predatory towing practices. It also required towing companies on police-initiated towing lists to file their maximum rates for police-initiated tows.

Dorsey also introduced a bill in March aimed at ending several trade-specific consumer boards and consolidating everything within a Department of Consumer Protection and Business Licensing – including the Board of Licensing for Towing Services.

The Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to approve the bill.

Still, towing companies often have the upper hand once they’ve towed someone’s car.

Little recourse

Vehicle owners whose cars have been towed often have little recourse other than suing the towing company or filing complaints with the state Attorney General’s office. But the former might take years, and the latter, in the state of Maryland, could result in the office conducting voluntary mediation between the towing company and the customer — but it’s not guaranteed.

Businesses are not obligated to refund anyone because of a complaint.

Maryland Judiciary Case Search shows that Frankford Towing has been involved in 151 lawsuits, as both defendant and plaintiff.

Often, Murray said, customers choose simply to pay the towing fees, even if they think them outrageous, and figure they’ll try to get it back later. But by the time they have their property back, they mentally shrug off the money they spent, figuring it’s a lost cause or will take far too much effort, she said. That emboldens towing companies to do more outlandish things in pursuit of a payday, she said.

Murray cited companies across the U.S. that towed appropriately-parked cars for parking with a single tire touching the white line, having too little air in their tires, or having three bolts securing a license plate holder instead of four.

In more egregious situations, she said, towing companies became truly predatory. She recalled a Michigan towing company that was brought up on federal charges in district court in 2019 for targeting pretty young women drivers. Once they’d towed the car, the drivers would routinely proposition the woman whose car it was, offering to let her “work it out” another way, rather than pay the towing and storage fee.

In Lyles-Myers’ case, she hasn’t been allowed access to her belongings or to inspect the vehicle. That can be its own set of issues, Murray said, as people have lost access to identification, medications, or needed equipment like child car seats when they’re prohibited from accessing their belongings without paying the associated fees.

Insurmountable odds?

“I’m frustrated,” Lyles-Myers said. Tired of walking into Frankford alone and being denied access to her vehicle, she has begged the MDTA Police for help.

She said they refused to help her retrieve her belongings, instead telling her to file a complaint through the Office of the Attorney General.

She intends to, but she said she’s working a full-time job, and her commute from Hyattsville to Baltimore has now turned into two hours each way on the train. She’s exhausted, she’s fed up, and at times, she’s considered simply abandoning her vehicle.

While the MDTA provided her with a copy of the release paperwork she needs to recoup her car, she’s still facing a huge bill for a car that may require significant repair. She’s still having her right to collect her belongings denied.

“When I consider going back to Frankford,” she said, “I get these knots in my stomach.”

Even with the law on her side, she worries that while they hold her vehicle, they hold all the cards.

Have you had similar problems with a towing company, or experienced predatory towing? Share your story with us. Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

Three cadets who were enrolled at the camp in the past ten years told The Sun they were forced to exercise without water breaks until passing out or vomiting, sometimes requiring airlifts from the camp. One suffered a concussion after being attacked by cadets, and they witnessed cadet “fight clubs” organized by the staff.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, is talking with the Maryland National Guard about the conditions at the camp and the concerns the teens raised, his spokesperson said.

“Van Hollen believes that the Freestate Challenge Academy must uphold a high standard of academic rigor and ensure the physical safety and mental well-being of its cadets. Anything less is not acceptable,” his spokesperson said in a statement emailed to The Sun.

Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said he is aware of the allegations, but is yet to call for an investigation into the camp.

“Governor Moore knows Maryland’s National Guard and Military Department regard these allegations with the utmost seriousness and [will] take concrete steps to hold any substantiated accounts of misconduct accountable,” said Senior Communication Strategist Rhyan Lake in an email statement to The Sun. “The governor and Maryland’s Military Department always have been and always will be committed to ensuring all cadets are provided a safe, supportive, and professional environment that promotes their health, safety, and well-being.”

Lake referred The Sun to the Maryland Military Department when asked if Moore was investigating or planned to initiate an investigation into the allegations raised by former cadets.

The Sun called and emailed the Maryland Military Department to learn what the department is doing to investigate the claims teens made, as well as the substance of the department’s conversations with Van Hollen. A spokesperson did not respond by the time of publication.

Del. Lauren Arikan, a Republican whose Harford County district includes the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, called for transparency from the academy’s director, and urged public schools in her district to refrain from referring teens in their care to the camp until the concerns are addressed.

“I am very keen to hear a clear explanation from Director Kisha L. Webster as to whether there is currently a federal law enforcement investigation going on in regards to the accusations of assaults and abuse at Freestate ChalleNGe Academy,” Arikan said to The Sun in an email.

“The accusations are extremely serious, occurred on base, and could constitute grounds for criminal charges,” she said. “Until this matter is sufficiently resolved, [Harford County Public Schools] should refrain from recommending Freestate ChalleNGe Academy to any of its students.”

Scared to sleep at night, sleeping through class

A free program for at-risk youth, Freestate promises teens and their families housing and food for 22 weeks, along with the opportunity to study and take the GED. To apply to the program, teens must have dropped out of high school or be in danger of dropping or failing out. Once accepted, attendees must drop out of high school to attend.

The teens told The Sun the education aspect was lacking, and that few of their classmates went on to get their GEDs. They added that they suffered beatings at the hands of other cadets.

“People were actually making weapons in there because they were scared of some of the other kids in there,” one teen who attended the camp in 2022 told The Sun. The Sun is withholding his name as he still fears for his safety.

“There were a lot of kids in there claiming they were gang members,” he said, and some cadets made shivs out of metal forks and hid them under the floorboards.

The teen said he and others routinely fell asleep in GED prep classes because they would stay up all night, afraid of the other cadets in the program attacking them while they slept. He ultimately failed his GED test, he said, attributing it to the exhaustion he felt during class and the lack of a science instructor that year. He still has not earned his GED, he said.

An atmosphere of violence

Another teen The Sun interviewed about his experience at Freestate. Nathanael Royal said after just a few weeks in the program, he was awoken at 3 a.m. one night and beaten with a homemade blackjack by other teens at the camp while the staff who stood watch overnight changed shift.

Royal said he woke up to four or five teens, wearing black t-shirts tied over their faces. One held him down on his bed while others punched and slammed him in the head with a “lock sock” or “rock sock,” which he defined as a padlock or large rock inside a sock. He said they threatened him with further harm if he snitched.

Royal’s mother brought him to the emergency room the next morning after the camp nurse examined him and, alarmed, called her. He had a dent in his head and was diagnosed with a possible concussion and contusion and referred to a brain injury center in Virginia, according to his medical records, which The Sun reviewed. His parents disenrolled him from camp, but were unable to re-enroll him in public school due to his age, they said.

Royal spent the next year afraid to sleep at night, he said, and lay awake until the sun came up, he said.

Freestate temporarily closed in early September due to facility issues, including leaking condenser lines and a broken sewer pipe, Maryland Military Department Public Affairs Manager Chazz Kibbler said. The camp was temporarily relocated to Camp Frettard Military Reservation in Reisterstown, but the new facility was not up to federal installation requirements, he said.

Class 65 was given the option to continue in other ChalleNGe academies or withdraw, according to Kibbler. Ten transferred to Washington-based Capital Guardians ChalleNGe Academy and four to New Jersey’s ChalleNGe Academy. Others pursued GED testing directly with support from Freestate staff, Kibbler said.

The state plans to reopen the camp in January for the next class, Class 66.

Did you attend or work at Freestate? What was your experience there? Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

One said he was attacked, beaten with a homemade blackjack while he slept.

One said he developed post-traumatic stress disorder.

These teens who enrolled at the Maryland National Guard Freestate ChalleNGe Academy in previous years have a lot to say about their experience as cadets in the program — not much of it good.

A boot camp for at-risk youth, the program promises teens and their families a strict structure, housing and food for 22 weeks, along with the opportunity to study and take the GED — a potentially life-changing offer for many of these youth.

But three cadets interviewed by The Baltimore Sun say they were forced to exercise without water breaks until they passed out or vomited, and that it wasn’t unusual for teens to be airlifted from the camp at the Aberdeen Proving Ground by helicopter. Sergeants on staff, they say, made them exercise in dangerous conditions.

They said camp staff organized fight clubs where they encouraged or allowed teens to fight one another after hours, and that many teens in the program never earned their GEDs — a major component of Freestate, and one that is vital given that teens must drop out of school to enroll.

Some are too old to be readmitted to public school if they drop out or don’t complete their GED at Freestate, as Nathanael Royal, the cadet who says he was beaten by other teens in the program, discovered.

The cadets told The Sun they feared the other teens in the program, some of whom claimed to have gang ties and were at times violent. In addition to the homemade blackjacks and nocturnal attacks that took place during the 30-minute window in which the guard changed shift, Royal and one of the other cadets, The Sun interviewed — two of whom asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation by former cadets — recalled regular fights that erupted in the stairwell as teens passed one another. Those fights, they said, staff watched silently without interference.

Some cadets made shivs out of the metal forks they ate with and hid them under the floorboards, Royal and another cadet from his year said. At a certain point, the cadet said, the staff stopped allowing them access to the forks.

While some thrive in the ChalleNGe Academy setting, Royal and other cadets said the experience was anything other than positive.

Royal told The Sun he was awoken in the middle of the night and attacked by other cadets wearing black T-shirts tied around their faces, beaten in the head with a homemade blackjack, and that staff were aware of this pattern of attacks. He and his family say they reached out to the camp after the attack, and when the staff dismissed their concerns, his parents disenrolled him from the program.

“We are aware of concerns raised about incidents at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy,” Maryland Military Department Public Affairs Manager Chazz Kibbler said in an emailed statement. “We take any allegation of misconduct or unsafe conditions seriously. In cases where investigations substantiated misconduct, appropriate actions were taken to address the matter.”

Kibbler declined to say what their investigations found and what changes were implemented afterward, instead directing The Sun to file a Maryland Public Information Act request.

“FCA remains a life-changing program for youth across Maryland, which is why it has strong support from former cadets, families and communities,” Kibbler said.

A chance at a GED

Royal entered Freestate with hopes of earning his GED.

After years of struggling with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, unable to focus in class and being passed on despite failing grades, by high school Royal didn’t understand much of the material. Rather than admit it, he avoided the pain point — school.

Although his teachers liked him, mother Shayna Royal said, he earned three of the eight credits he was supposed to earn in his freshman year. As a sophomore, he earned zero credits and regularly slept in or locked his bedroom door to avoid his mother taking him to school, father Jason Royal said.

When he did go, Jason said, his son spent his time roaming the halls or hiding in the bathroom rather than sitting in class.

“I couldn’t focus on the work,” Royal said. “I didn’t want to be there.”

The high school, Bel Air’s C. Milton Wright High, called a meeting with the Royal family at the end of his sophomore year, Shayna said. That day, a vice principal suggested they look into an alternative schooling placement and presented them with several brochures.

Together, Royal and his parents chose the state’s ChalleNGe Academy, a tuition-free program Congress founded in 1993. The program allows 16- to 18-year-olds to study for and earn their GED, as well as vocational training certificates and set up a recruiting pipeline for the National Guard and other military branches. Freestate is one of the 10 original ChalleNGe Academies founded.

The fact that he could earn his GED in a year was appealing, Royal said, and it seemed like a better choice than the alternative school the vice principal suggested.

ChalleNGe academies largely target troubled or at-risk youths. Program requirements state that applicants must be at least 15½ years old, be at risk of dropping out of high school or have already dropped out, and may not be on probation or parole. In order to attend, they must drop out of school.

But Royal did not earn his GED there, as he disenrolled early after the attack, he said. Another cadet The Sun interviewed said he didn’t earn his either, nor did many cadets in his year, calling the education aspect lacking.

Former director Keith Dickerson, who ran the camp at the time Royal was enrolled and stepped down in April 2024, disputed the characterization of the program.

“ChalleNGe is not a GED program,” he said in an email to The Sun. “ChalleNGe is founded on eight core components that program participants must successfully complete to be a ChalleNGe graduate. Yes, taking the GED test is part of the program, but that is an added bonus,” he said.

“The program doesn’t award the credential; it is earned,” he said.

The ‘troubled teen industry’

Research shows the ChalleNGe Academy setting can be a beneficial experience for many. The program promises parents and teens discipline and a set environment, and it is free to attend. For many, it can help them turn their lives around, get them away from bad influences or break bad habits and set them on a path to success.

Indeed, a 2009 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation survey of ChalleNGe Academy cadets who completed the program and a control group showed that cadets were more likely to obtain a high school diploma or GED, be working and attending college, and have better health and higher levels of self-efficacy than the control group. They were also less likely to have been arrested.

Still, the program bears significant resemblance to programs in the “troubled teen industry,” wilderness or re-education camps parents can enroll their children in that begin with said child being kidnapped in the middle of the night from their bed by strangers and subjected to extreme conditions and requirements for weeks or months on end.

Programs such as wilderness therapy and boot camps for at-risk or troubled youth can be traced back to the 1958 cult Synanon, a drug addiction rehabilitation center that used attack therapy, isolation, limited freedom and rewards for compliance in said teens, according to an oral history of the “troubled teen industry” by a University of New Hampshire researcher. Hallmarks of such programs often incorporate some of these methods, such as isolation, exhaustion through physical exertion and rigid rules, which Royal and other cadets said they endured at Freestate.

‘Serious facility issues’ shut the camp down temporarily

The Sun requested information on how many cadets had earned their GEDs through the program in the past five years, organized by class, as there are two classes a year. The full information has not yet been provided; however, Kibbler told The Sun that during Class 64, the last class to go through the program, 38 of 56 cadets earned their GEDs.

It is not clear if the 18 cadets who did not earn a GED took the test or dropped out.

Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, the state’s adjutant general who oversees the National Guard and its programs, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

Calls to program leadership were not answered or returned, and Director Kisha L. Webster did not return calls or emails. Through Kibbler, she declined an interview.

Freestate temporarily closed in early September due to what Kibbler called “serious facility issues,” including leaking condenser lines and a broken sewer pipe.

“In response, FCA shifted operations to a temporary location at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation in Reisterstown, anticipating only a short stay,” Kibbler said. “After further evaluation, however, it became clear the new facility could not be brought up to federal installation requirements and was not a permanent solution.”

Class 65 was given the option to continue in other ChalleNGe academies or withdraw. Ten transferred to Washington-based Capital Guardians ChalleNGe Academy and four to New Jersey’s ChalleNGe Academy. Others pursued GED testing directly with support from Freestate staff, Kibbler said.

The state plans to reopen the camp in January for the next class, Class 66.

Did you or someone you know participate in Freestate? What was your or their experience? Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

Younger and more educated workers are more likely to use AI.

Last year, 16% of workers surveyed said at least some of their work is done using AI. Since then, the number of respondents who said they use AI has increased by five percentage points.

Of the respondents, 2% said all or most of their work is done using AI, the same percentage as in 2024, but the total share of those who say some of their work is done using AI increased from 14% to 19%.

Higher education levels also indicate higher AI usage, the survey showed.

In 2024, 20% of workers with a bachelor’s degree or more education surveyed told Pew that at least some of their work was done using AI. This year, that number rose to 28%. Meanwhile, 13% of workers with “some college” or less education reported they used AI at least some of the time at work in 2024; that increased to 16% this year.

The center surveyed 9,928 randomly-selected workers in September 2025, following up on a similar survey in October 2024 to see how workers’ responses changed, per the survey methodology. Of the nearly 10,000 contacted by Pew, 8,750 responded, about 88%.

While the numbers Pew published last week don’t break down by state, Maryland’s government has announced its intention to incorporate AI into daily use.

In January 2024, via executive order, Gov. Wes Moore established an AI subcabinet to advise on the implementation of AI in state government, develop a plan for incorporation among state government, including by offering training programs in AI, and build critical AI infrastructure.

The state’s AI roadmap said, “current use of AI in the state is relatively minimal.” However, the roadmap said, this year the state plans to ramp up its AI usage.

Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

At the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy, an Aberdeen Proving Ground boot camp and GED program for at-risk Maryland youth run by the National Guard, Royal thought he’d be getting a second chance after failing ninth and tenth grade. He had withdrawn from public school to attend the program, a requirement.

But within a few weeks, Royal wanted out.

Royal told his parents in his one weekly allowed 10-minute phone call that other cadets were hitting teens with “rock socks” and “lock socks,” a type of homemade blackjack. He was scared and didn’t feel safe.

He asked them to pick him up, but they refused.

“We honestly didn’t believe him because the sergeants, when we first went, told us that the kids would say anything to come home and to not believe them,” mother Shayna Royal said. “So we didn’t.”

The following week, around 3 a.m. on Aug. 16, Royal said he woke up to four or five teens, wearing black t-shirts tied over their faces, holding him down on his bed while others punched and slammed him in the head,  threatening him with further harm if he snitched.

The next morning, around 5 a.m., Royal, afraid to be honest with program staff, told a sergeant he’d been stung by a bee.

The sergeant took Royal to the nurse, who called his mother, Shayna Royal. Shayna picked him up that morning and drove him to the E.R., where doctors diagnosed him with a contusion, a possible concussion and recommended a follow-up with a brain injury association in Virginia, according to medical records The Sun reviewed.

But Royal didn’t feel lucky.

Although things have been getting better over the past year, he can’t shake what’s happened to him — and his parents want to make sure this doesn’t happen to another teen.

‘Aware of concerns’

Gov. Wes Moore’s office declined to comment on Royal’s experience at the camp, directing The Baltimore Sun to the National Guard.

The Maryland Military Department declined multiple requests for interviews with the program director and the state’s adjutant general; however, Public Affairs Manager Chazz Kibbler provided a statement.

“The Maryland Military Department’s top priority has always been, and will remain, the health, safety, and well-being of the cadets entrusted to our care at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy,” Kibbler said.

“We are aware of concerns raised about incidents at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy,” Kibbler said. “We take any allegation of misconduct or unsafe conditions seriously. In cases where investigations substantiated misconduct, appropriate actions were taken to address the matter.”

Royal says he can’t remember much of the attack, and doesn’t remember a lot of what happened at the hospital.What he does remember is the sleepless nights he endured for months after — night after night where he lay awake, terrified. He couldn’t fall asleep until the sun came up.

The concussion symptoms were severe, too, but he didn’t want to seek follow-up treatment. Instead, his mother said, he stayed in bed or shut himself in his room for most of the following year.

“Everything in my mind was in a different place,” Royal said. But, he said, “I like to deal with things on my own.”

Royal’s family said they reached out to Freestate, pursuing accountability but said Freestate swept the attack under the rug. The staff implied they didn’t believe Royal had been assaulted in conversations after the event, and the program didn’t cover the cost of Royal’s E.R. bill, the family said.

Now, Royal is 19 years old, and still struggling.

“He’s not who he was before,” Shayna said. “I just want them shut down.”

‘BEWARE! BEWARE!’

In the aftermath of the attack, Royal’s father, Jason Royal, said he reached out to Freestate leadership seeking justice for his son, but found then-director Keith Dickerson’s responses unhelpful.

“He kept saying ‘your son was allegedly assaulted,’” Jason said. “‘Allegedly.’ ‘We don’t even know if that’s true or not,’ and ‘we don’t have cameras in the room so we can’t see what happened.’ He pretty much was just brushing the whole thing off.”

Dickerson, who stepped down from Freestate in April 2024, said Royal had called and written his parents daily, “begging them to disenroll [him] from the program…”Based on the initial story we were told [regarding Royal’s injury] and the story told at the hospital, naturally, there was some doubt that arose; particularly because the youth had been trying to get out of the program since it started.”

Dickerson said in an email he expected to hear from the Royal family after the hospital visit, but that he and his staff “never heard from the family again.”

Frustrated, Jason posted to Google Reviews, leaving a one-star review of Freestate. He recounted his family’s experience with the program and included photos of Royal’s head after the attack, swelling clearly visible through his bootcamp buzzcut and wrapping around his forehead.

In the photos posted, taken the morning after the attack, Royal looks away from the camera, his hand curled in front of his mouth, and little expression on his face. A visible dent can be seen at the back of his skull and about half his skull, including his forehead, is heavy and swollen.

“BEWARE! BEWARE!” Jason wrote. “Do not send your kids to Freestate ChalleNGe Academy. The kids’ safety is not the number one priority. Many kids are being assaulted, hit with locks in socks and the sergeants are doing nothing about it. … Last night my son was assaulted by 2 other cadets and has a dent in his head and a lot of swelling and a concussion. … My son is in fear of his life being there and has no trust in the staff. This happened while staff [were] there. The director will give the run-around and will not admit any wrongdoings that are going on under his watch. Please parents spread the word and do not allow your child to become a victim.”

Dickerson told Royal’s parents to bring him back to the camp, Shayna said. Instead, they removed him from the program and reached out to Bel Air’s public school district, hoping to re-enroll him as a high school freshman. The district, however, refused to take him back, Shayna said. He was already 17, and wouldn’t graduate until he was 21.

They reached out to a military lawyer, Shayna said, but didn’t know what steps to take next.

‘Blowing smoke’

Royal blames his parents for the attack he suffered at Freestate, and everything that followed. The sleepless nights, the inability to think, and the fear he couldn’t let go of.

“They didn’t believe me,” Royal said, referencing his telephone call home. “It was their fault. I stand on that.”

Before the attack, he had been set to graduate with his GED a year earlier than his peers. After, he was frozen, he said.

It took him another year before he could even start to work on his GED again, and he didn’t get his diploma until December 2024, a full year after he would have graduated high school. He now works the overnight online order shift at the local Target.

The blame hurts Shayna, who picked him up from the camp, who met with every district administrator she could to try and get him back into public school. She is still upset that she didn’t bring him home when he first called them, but thought she was doing the right thing, she said.

Jason, however, is less bothered by the blame. He developed PTSD after an active duty tour in the Army in Iraq in the early 2000s, and said he sometimes struggles with empathy for others. But he’s frustrated at the lack of response from Freestate and program accountability after what was done to his son.

“They preach how it’s supposed to be very safe,” he said. “They were just blowing smoke.”

This article is the first in a two-part story on conditions at Freestate. Did you or someone you know enroll at Freestate? What was your or their experience? Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

“The Baltimore Ravens Boys & Girls Club will be an important and dynamic space, designed specifically not only to support but empower the bright and deserving youth of Baltimore,” Baltimore Ravens President Sashi Brown said in a statement.

This marks the third time in the U.S. that an NFL team has partnered in such a manner with a Boys & Girls Club.

The Baltimore Ravens Boys & Girls Club at Hilton Recreation Center will provide academic support, mentoring, leadership development, health and wellness programs, and athletic opportunities for children and teens. The newly renovated facility includes Dick Cass Field — named in honor of former Ravens president Dick Cass — a multi-purpose athletic field with sports lighting, Under Armour gymnasium, a teen center, activity and games spaces, tutoring spaces and indoor and outdoor community gathering areas, the press release said.

The club will offer programs focused on health and well-being, academic success, character and leadership, and life and workforce readiness, the release said.

Calling it a “game changer” for West Baltimore families, Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott applauded the collaboration, according to the release.

“This Club represents the very best of what can happen when our city, local organizations, and private partners come together with a shared vision,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. “The Ravens Boys & Girls Club at Hilton Recreation Center will … [provide] our young people with safe spaces, strong mentors, and the resources they need to grow into the leaders of tomorrow.”

Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

Adjutant Gen. Maj. Janeen Birckhead shut the program down in early September, her department said.

“The Freestate ChalleNGe Academy is currently experiencing unforeseen maintenance issues impacting the cadets’ living quarters and educational facilities, which have led to the unfortunate decision to cease operations and send cadets of Class #65 home,” Maryland National Guard Public Affairs Officer Maj. Benjamin Hughes told The Baltimore Sun in a statement last week.

“Parents were notified on Sept. 9, 2025, and at the time of pickup, received a letter explaining the situation. The Maryland Military Department’s primary concern remains the safety and welfare of our cadets,” Hughes said.

Applicants to the program must be at least 15 and a half years old, be at risk of dropping out of high school or have already dropped out and may not be on probation or parole. The 17-month program, located on Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County, is free to attend.

Hughes said plumbing issues and a backed-up sewer made the living and educational quarters unlivable during repairs. The building will likely be dug out and replumbed, he said.

Administrators hope to reopen the program by January, he said, but it could take longer.

“It was going to be bigger and more disruptive than they thought when the problem first arose,” Hughes said. “We don’t know all the details yet but we’re trying to find homes for all the kiddos involved in the program.”

Nine cadets transferred to the Washington, D.C. ChalleNGe program; another four transferred to the New Jersey program, Hughes said.

The Freestate ChalleNGe Academy was created by national legislation in 1993 as “a voluntary, quasi-military program that aims to imbue at-risk youth with the values, life skills, education, and self-discipline needed to succeed as productive citizens,” per a 2023 Government Accountability Office report to Congress. It was one of 10 pilot ChalleNGe Academies.

The report found that systemic issues like low staff-to-cadet ratios persisted across a number of ChalleNGe Academy sites, and that National Guard personnel have not consistently performed required cooperative agreement audits.

Hughes said he could not speak to historic staffing levels but that current levels are appropriate.

Did you or your child participate in the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy in the last few years? What was your experience like? Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.