BETHESDA, Md. (October 1, 2024) – On August 20, several impacted individuals, led by the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition, filed a civil lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Md. to stop the continued desecration of land previously used as a burial ground for slaves and former slaves and their descendants post-emancipation. The land at issue is located on River Road, Bethesda, and is part of a former thriving Black community around River Road. 

The defendants, Bethesda Self Storage Partners, LLC (BSSP) and 1784 Capital Holdings, LLC, are in the process of constructing a self-storage facility (Westbard Self-Storage) on the property.While constructing the storage facility, the plaintiffs claim BSSP knowingly removed human remains and funerary objects from the site in blatant violation of both the descendants’ rights and specific conditions and requirements imposed on them by government authorities. BSSP’s negligence caused (and continues to cause) severe emotional distress on the individual plaintiffs and the descendant community forced to witness the desecration of the burial ground.

The plaintiffs have asked the court for a judicial declaration that the land, designated as parcel 242, was used as a burial ground and that human remains, burial artifacts and funerary objects were wrongfully removed from the site, and for an order requiring the defendants to return such remains, artifacts and objects to BACC. The plaintiffs also seeks monetary compensation.

For almost a decade, BACC and its allies have fought tirelessly to identify and to protect historical slave and Black burial grounds in the Bethesda area. The lawsuit is BACC’s latest effort to safeguard sacred land and to honor those laid to rest on such land.

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