Conservative Activist Returns to Baltimore for Second Trash Cleanup

A conservative activist and several volunteers picked up trash for the second time this year on Monday in Baltimore, Maryland.

Scott Presler, a Trump supporter and grassroots activist, said his efforts are not about pointing fingers but are meant to help average Americans clean up their beloved city.

“This is not about President Trump. This is not about (being) anti-Representative Cummings. This is about we see a problem, and these are our American people. These are our brothers and sisters,” he told CBS Baltimore.

The group picked up seven tons of trash during the event Monday, and Presler said in a video posted to Twitter that he and his fellow volunteers will be back again in October:

We picked up 7 tons of trash in 10 hours.

Thank you to every single volunteer who made this possible. #BaltimoreCleanup pic.twitter.com/gkyUv2uf5g

— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) September 9, 2019

Volunteer Joe Glassman said he drove 90 minutes from Sterling, Virginia, just to be at the event.

“(It’s) people cooperating to solve problems […] and if I have to take a day off to prove that point, then I’m okay with that,” he noted.

On August 5, Presler and 170 volunteers from around the country and the state of Maryland picked up 12 tons of trash. However, the Baltimore Sun editorial board criticized their efforts, going so far as to say the cleanup was “a good photo opp, but does little to address the real problems.”

In an article written by Presler for the Sun on August 28, the young conservative wrote that upon his return to Baltimore, he and the other volunteers “would like to cordially invite The Baltimore Sun to join our efforts and help pick up trash.”

However, Presler tweeted Tuesday that he did not see anyone from the news outlet at the event.

“Thanks to every person who volunteered in Baltimore. I invited the @baltimoresun to help, but didn’t see anyone. They were very quick to judge us — we kept our promise to come back”:

On my way to LAX now.

Thanks to every person who volunteered in Baltimore.

I invited the @baltimoresun to help, but didn’t see anyone.

They were very quick to judge us — we kept our promise to come back.

— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) September 10, 2019

Louise Brogdon, an 81-year-old west Baltimore resident who has lived in the neighborhood for 38 years, said she and her neighbors are glad to have all the help they can get.

“I don’t care who’s cleaning up as long as they help me clean. Ain’t no politician ain’t got nothing to do with it,” she told reporters.