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Annapolis Unveils Rowe Boulevard Highway Markers Honoring Capital Gazette Five

The Rowe Boulevard signs were installed to keep the victims’ names in public view.

Andrea Chamblee, whose husband John McNamara was one of the five victims of the 2018 shooting at the Capital Gazette, holds a highway marker while speaking with a journalist following a highway sign dedication marking a one-mile section of Rowe Blvd. in Annapolis for The Capital Gazette Five, on Monday. (Brian Krista/Staff)
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Overview

  • City officials, the Caucus of African American Leaders and the Maryland Transportation Commission dedicated signs on both sides of a one-mile stretch of Rowe Boulevard near Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
  • The markers commemorate Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters, the five Capital Gazette employees killed in 2018.
  • Mayor Gavin Buckley said the location was chosen so nearly everyone driving into downtown Annapolis would see the tribute.
  • Speakers stressed the memorial’s First Amendment message, with community leader Carl Snowden asserting that the media are not the enemy of the people.
  • The highway dedication is the city’s second memorial related to the attack, following the 2021 Guardians of the First Amendment Memorial at Newman Street Park, and victims’ families received replica signs during the ceremony.