Hoyer Honors Maryland Trooper Wesley Brown on Floor of U.S. House

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) went to the House Floor today to honor the memory of Maryland State Trooper Wesley Brown, the young officer who was tragically shot and killed earlier this month outside a Forestville restaurant where he was working off duty on security detail. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery and which were submitted into the Congressional Record. Video of the Floor statement is HERE.

"Mr. Speaker:

"I rise to honor the memory of Maryland State Trooper Wesley Brown, who was shot to death without warning while working on an off-duty security detail in the early morning of June 11^th. He was 24 years old.

"Though his life was cut far too short, Trooper Brown filled the years he was given with service to his community, mentoring for young men, and love for his family. It wasn't enough for Wesley to serve as a decorated State Trooper for more than three years; he also founded Young Men Enlightening Younger Men, a group dedicated to teaching life and leadership skills to boys in Wesley's Seat Pleasant neighborhood. Many of them came to regard Trooper Brown as a father figure: "I became a squared-away young man," said one of his pupils at his memorial service. "And I'll never forget that smile."

"Wesley Brown's death was sudden and deeply unfair. But his community is better because he lived, and the seeds he sowed will outlive him. As the pastor said in Wesley's eulogy: "He showed us how to serve his brother man, and no one had to beg him to do it."

"May all those whom Trooper Brown left behind—his mother, Patricia Bell; his father, Sylvester Brown, Sr.; his fiancée, Ebony Norris; his seven brothers and sisters; and his grandmother, Rosella Bell—find comfort in his memory."