How a tweet set off the ‘news’

It all began with a tweet from a Baltimore-area Twitter account: “The mayor's pick for Baltimore's next commissioner #JoelFitzgerald,” read a tweet from the account @bmoreProjects Thursday evening.

The tweet was seen by a Dallas-area local reporter, who showed it to Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, asking whether the chief was leaving for a job in Baltimore.

The Fort Worth mayor thought, “I guess it appears he is leaving per a tweet she was asked to respond to,” Laken Avonne Rapier, a spokeswoman for Price, said Friday morning.

Answering the reporter’s question, she said, “It appears he has taken the police chief spot in Baltimore. He's done a good job in Fort Worth, and I wish him the best in this new position.” “It snowballed from there,” she said. Her statement that her police chief was leaving for Baltimore quickly became news in Texas and in Maryland, as well.

After the mayor had received a number of inquiries about Fitzgerald possibly leaving for Baltimore—“whispers of it last night”—Rapier said the mayor accepted it could be a possibility.

Contacted Friday, Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh said she was still vetting candidates for the city’s next police commissioner and would not confirm Fitzgerald was her pick, nor that he was being considered for the position.

Her administration has released very little information about its vetting of the 50 applicants.

Officials, including City Solicitor Andre Davis, who is aiding in the search, have said the new commissioner would be named by the end of the month.

Rapier said Fitzgerald has not submitted a letter of resignation or provided a “verbal resignation,” as of Friday morning. Fitzgerald and Price spoke on the phone Friday, where the mayor was informed that he had been in discussions and interviewed for the Baltimore job, Rapier said. She said the Fort Worth mayor was not aware before Friday.

The user behind the @bmoreProjects Twitter account did not immediately respond to a call for comment Friday. The name on the account is MediaWatchdog.

Kinji Scott, a longtime community activist who was also tweeting about Fitzgerald on Thursday night, said his tweets set off a chain reaction “from here to Texas.” He said a person – whom he declined to name – close to the mayor told him that Fitzgerald was her choice, and he believed that the community had a right to know given the stakes involved with selecting a police commissioner. So, he turned to Twitter to spread the word.

The activist said he spoke to Pugh Thursday night on the phone after he began tweeting about Fitzgerald. He said the mayor said she was concerned about Fitzgerald’s job security as she continued the vetting.

“She confirmed that this is the guy she picked and she would have to go with someone else now that the information is out,” Scott said.

He said Pugh followed up with a text message to him saying, “No one has been selected.”

“She should give the community a chance to accept him,” Scott said.