Daughter, a Cadet at one of the five U.S. military service academies, harassed while on train en route to the Academy after being home for a family emergency
Fern Shen, blogger for the Baltimore Brew, has a history of posts which many find inflammatory, contain loose facts, have ulterior motives and too often target people that are African-American. Shen’s blog is available on the Baltimore Brew website, as well as their Facebook page. Shen almost always share her posts on the Baltimore City Voters Facebook group operated by David Troy.
Shen’s antics in Baltimore City Voters reached a crescendo on February 17th, 2021 after sharing a blog post to the group targeting then City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby titled “Mosby’s campaign finance report is riddled with mismatched names and addresses”. Shen had been posting feverishly about the Mosby’s for months and this post sparked fiery comments – some even accused Shen of being racist.
Marc Steiner, a fan of the Brew, wrote “I admire Fern and Mark but with all we are facing in our City, why this obsessive focus on Marilyn Mosby?”. (see comment) John Fowler, a Mosby detractor, wrote “I am again [sic], not a fan of hers by any means, but the Brew is certainly going out of their way to dig into Mosby”. (see comment)
Shen critic, Brian Sims, also weighed in on the post. (view here) For several, this was the final straw that led to scores of African-American members of Baltimore City Voters leaving for a newly created Baltimore City Black Voters Facebook group. (view here)
In the lead-up to Fern Shen’s recent blog post dated February 21, 2023, she focuses again on another of her past African-American targets – an active community member Desmond Stinnie. Stinnie, known for being politically engaged and vocal on issues affecting the City recently called in to The Outsiders, a local radio show, to express his feelings on the current BGE conduit situation. Stinnie urged people to sign a petition and referenced the website ChillBGE.com to access the online petition.
“Fern Shen reached out to me with questions about my show”, says Sean Simms, co-host of The Outsiders – a local online radio show that airs each Saturday at 11:00 a.m. “Like iTeam Baltimore, we have been covering the conduit situation. The conversation quickly turned to Desmond and what I might know about what he is doing. What she printed is a complete misrepresentation of what I said”. Simms continues. “Stinnie is extremely tech savvy and has helped the show with marketing our content – he is a valuable resource, and that is what I said”.
Reached for comment, Stinnie wrote “[Fern] Shen called my daughter’s cell phone while she was traveling back to school after being home for an urgent family matter. My daughter expressed that she was not interested in speaking with her (Shen), but Shen kept pressing saying she was told that someone at this number is connected to me. My family does not deserve to be harassed this way. My daughter was very upset”. Stinnie expressed that he would not comment beyond his statement due to pending legal matters. Stinnie’s wife’s phone was also blown up by Shen leaving this seemingly desperate message. (click to listen). According to Facebook, one of Stinnie’s children was recently hospitalized with a critical illness.
Asked what he thought about the February 21st blog post, Marvin “Doc” Cheatham – former President of the Baltimore Branch of the NAACP and Community Activist – replied “Some are in this business to make money, but The Outsiders are in business to save and educate people.” He continued, “I put my life on the line for our people”.
Sean Simms confirmed that Mr. Stinnie will be joining The Outsiders show as a guest this coming Saturday, February 25th, 2023 between 11:00 am and noon. Tune in to the show and call in with your thoughts (443) 267-6558