A preliminary investigation determined that this was the third time the Trump supporter's home had been targeted. The home was previously vandalized on October 16, police said, and a Trump-Pence sign was stolen from the front yard of the property in late October.
This incident shows the danger of jumping to conclusions, as the Montgomery County Council has, in regard to a handful of hate-based vandalism incidents since the election. With no evidence, and not a single suspect having been arrested and questioned, our County Council has alleged these incidents were inspired by Trump and/or perpetrated by his supporters.
The Council has now been wrong twice in the last week; the only physical hate violence in the County so far has been directed against a Trump supporter, during a student protest last Wednesday in Rockville. And now in Four Corners, the only case where we have a clear motive, all evidence again points to anti-Trump forces.
Fortunately, the police are not taking a political approach, and are examining all cases objectively in their investigations. In a statement, detectives said they believe the homeowner's support for Trump is the motivation for the thefts and vandalism in the Four Corners case.
Anyone with information about these thefts or the vandalism incidents is asked to contact the 3rd District Investigative Section at 240-773-6870. For those who wish to remain anonymous, Crime Solvers of Montgomery County is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of the suspect(s). Tipsters can call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
Photo courtesy Montgomery County Police
96 comments:
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I agree -- not enough coverage has been given to the only case of hate-based violence in MoCo, and it's sad to think it may be because the victim is a Trump supporter.
In this incident you mention, the only positive sign is that MoCo Police actually put out a press release about it.
Did you hear about the white nationalist group at Maggiano's in Friendship Heights. Few articles I've read about it mention that the group couldn't be denied from eating there anyway, under DC's Human Rights Law (assuming they weren't disruptive of course).
Everyone is demonizing the restaurant when they shouldn't be.
Dyer had a very enjoyable dinner at Maggiano's on Friday night. He gives it five stars!
"This incident shows the danger of jumping to conclusions..."
Thank God Robert Dyer never, ever does that.
6:05: You're right, I don't. That's why people turn to this site for the facts they can't get elsewhere.
5:54: Just heard about that this morning. Apparently Tila Tequila was a member of the party. I'm not sure how the restaurant can be blamed; it could have happened at any establishment. I believe you are correct about not being able to deny service.
5:57: Wasn't there Friday night, but I do enjoy dining at Maggiano's.
Clearly a false flag incident. The guy either did it himself or had Trump supporting friends do it. Left wing fanatics don't paint swastikas on things, that's what anti-semites do to synagogues.
So far, we're seeing alot of attacks on Trump supporters. One was beaten last week. So much for the peaceful protest!
Plenty of anger on the left.
6:12 you have your head in the sand. Any irresponsible teen or adult is capable of doing such acts. This whole back and forth is a real shame.
It's going to be a long 8 years if the MoCo Dem strategy is just to physically assault and harass every Trump supporter.
So much for the "Montgomery way."
The preponderance of all crime and vandalism is so skewed to leftists, that any crime a right winger can be pinned with is breaking news. Looks like another fail here.
Dyer beware
Robert: I find it odd that your and some of your supporters main comments about the incident at Maggianos is to focus on and defend the restaurant's and the National Policy Institute's (NPI's) civil rights. NPI is an unabashedly white supremist, neo-nazi organization. I am not faulting Maggianos and I'm not condemning freedom of speech. However, I am questioning why you and some of your blogging supporters are defending NPI's rights and NOT condemning their statements and policies or their use of a Nazi salute for example. As a responsible journalist and opinion leader, you should be categorically condemning the NPI, their leaders and everything they stand for. To be blogging on this topic only about restaurant's civil rights and whether or not Maggianos is a good restaurant, seems to miss some big points about this story. Why won't you make a statement categorically opposing NPI's views, ideology and actions? To comment on everything, but this, makes many wonder whether you support these.
OR do you (Robert Dyer) agree with NPI's racist, antisemitic and white supremist views?
@ 6:20 - Are you suggesting that there are only two Trump supporters in the County, one of whom is not of voting age?
Robert: When you referred to Tila Tequila as apparently being a "member of the party", which party were you referring to: The National Policy Institute's party? The Nazi Party? The Republican Party? If it's the NPI's party, why say apparently? She was clearly attending their party!
@ 6:40 - Sure, and "third party metrics" show that Robert Dyer is the most widely read blogger in the history of the Internet.
Robert: Why not state clearly that you are opposed to NPI and everything they stand for? Why not clearly state that you are anti-racism, not antisemitic and not a white supremist?
Robert: And why not fix your blogging clock so that its accurate? Its currently off by about three hours, unless your on the Pacific (Left) Coast.
How does a restaurant screen for political views? I wouldn't want those extreme folks in my restaurant, but how to screen them?
@7:15am I don't like what NPI stands for, but as far as I can tell, they are just expressing their views peacefully and not resorting to violence. To me, the main issue is how groups are seeking to stop people from meeting to discuss their views, just because they don't agree with them.
This of course is an extreme case. I think a more common case which has been all too common lately, is controversial speakers having their invitations revoked to speak at college campuses, due to student protest. What happens is some campus group like the Young Republicans invites a speaker to campus, and other groups protest that the speaker shouldn't be allowed to speak at all. Never mind that the speech is not a mandatory event, and no one is forcing students to attend it. They just don't want anyone to hear views that oppose theirs. This from academia, the place where we should be most open to exploring viewpoints of all sides, and debating them intellectually.
So it's with this background that I have become a strong supporter of not suppressing speech that is expressed non-violently and non-criminally. No, I'm not a white nationalist and I'd probably disagree with just about everything they'd say, but I do strongly support their right to say it in a peaceful manner.
And why, by your standards, isn't it jumping to conclusions that (1) The Silver Spring incident was an anti-Trump "hate crime" and (2) the other incident(s) were carried out by "anti-Trump" forces? BTW, why not also report on what the Silver Spring "victim"'s views were that might have elicited a "hate crime", if in fact one was perpetrated? What about him would justify calling this a "hate crime", as opposed to an ordinary crime? What group was he a party to that might have elicited such hate? Why?
@7:46 AM. I too completely support free speech. That same right to free speech applies to people protesting against what NPI was saying and the way that they were acting. It also applies to those opposing a speaker at a university campus. I do believe that universities should be open to speakers espousing multiple and diverse viewpoints. I also think universities have rights to place rules and requirements on guest speakers, as long as they are applied fairly and uniformly. If you were referring to the recent incident at U of Maryland, my understanding is that the speaker in question wanted to be treated differently than all other speakers.
@7:46 What don't you like about what NPI stands for?
My earlier post I see has already been deleted by the Furor. So let me do this again. I will continue to say the Maggiano's knew what they were doing and back peddled on the issue as soon as they were confronted with protester. They also compared their openness to serve all with hosting Malia Obama's graduation party. REALLY! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211957117822511&set=p.10211957117822511&type=3&theater
https://cbsdallas.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/maggianos.jpg?w=768&h=432&crop=1
Dyer's denial to condemn the actions of both signals support for the NPI actions. Dyer=Deplorable.
Robert Dyer @6:11. Of course, facts you can't find anywhere else, well, they just might not be facts, aye? Do you really believe people flock to your site for facts? Your site is primarily an opinion blog site, why would people flock there for facts? Oh, I forgot, people don't flock there.
@7:57 I think it's become too widespread at campuses. There's a non-partisan non-profit that reports issues of speech censorship at universities: https://www.thefire.org/
8:10am Dyer has you hooked!
Traffic is surging on his sites.
Regarding Dyer's "flock", what is the singular of "sheeple"?
@ 8:22 AM - "Sheephole".
Robert Dyer sang his baby-metal version of the Horst Wessel Lied at the dinner.
You have tiny lists of all other crimes everyday, but choose to post long screeds about the dubious crimes that have to do with poor victimized white Trump supporters and then defend the NPI in the comments... Maybe you are learning from your heroes over at the nationalist sites like Breitbart and WND.
Dyer, were you able to make tthe National Policy Institute meeting in DC. Heard it was really good, especially Spencer's speech at the end.
10:11: I have the most comprehensive crime coverage in Montgomery County. Where did I "defend the NPI in the comments?"
You're just making stuff up - I guess that's also the "Montgomery way."
Dyer @ 5:44 - So why don't you clear up any confusion, and explicitly condemn the NPI?
The intolerant left sore loser crybabies Hilary Clinton supporters
So glad we won!
Robert Bryd of the kkk endorsed Hilary and she praised him
The media spins and the dumb young voters Hilary looked for in Wikileaks are too stupid to realize they were supporting a globalist , pro Saudi anti gay pro war warmonger Clinton in bed with Goldman Sachs
Do the lefty loons think this is endearing them to all the voters they lost
They were creamed bc they lost the middle class working man vite
With this lefty attacks and militant property destruction they are driving away the remainder middle class votes
Robert Byrd renounced the KKK many years ago. When will Donald Trump and Robert Dyer do the same?
8:04: Are you crazy? Robert Byrd was IN the KKK! He had the title of Exalted Cyclops, and was a racist through and through.
Robert Dyer is an Exalted Birdbrain
Nice try. And a pathetic one at that.
Yes, Byrd was a member of the Klan. Even worse, as he wrote in his 2005 book, he formed a chapter of the domestic terrorist organization in the 1940s. Then, Byrd went into politics. Several times during his 57 years in Congress, Byrd’s Klan connection threatened to upend his career. But here is where Byrd is no Duke. He admitted his mistake and atoned for it in public and in policy.
In his memoir, Byrd wrote, “It has emerged throughout my life to haunt and embarrass me and has taught me in a very graphic way what one major mistake can do to one’s life, career, and reputation.”
This and other words of contrition made it a no-brainer for Democrats like presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton to openly mourn the man who had been the longest-serving member of Congress when he died in June 2010. “Robert C. Byrd led by the power of his example,” then-Secretary of State Clinton said.
Because of Byrd’s evolution on race and equality, the NAACP issued a statement praising him at the time of his death. “Senator Byrd came to consistently support the NAACP civil rights agenda, doing well on the NAACP Annual Civil Rights Report Card,” said Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington bureau and senior vice president for advocacy and policy. “He stood with us on many issues of crucial importance to our members from the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, the historic health care legislation of 2010 and his support for the Hate Crimes Prevention legislation.”
Is Leventhal still wetting his bed over our new President? He has a tendency to lose it when Republican leaders get elected. (See his previous anxieties about Hogan after his surprise election)
Robert: It seems like you choose to only answer easy and less serious questions. You still haven't answered my earlier questions about why you (and some of your supporters) focus only on the rights of groups like NPI to espouse there white supremist, racist, anti-semitic and hate-filled message, but not on their awful message itself. Is it really that hard to denounce this message, renounce the group and state that you completely and categorically reject their beliefs and values? OR do you agree with their racist and fascist agenda? OR tell us why you don't want to answer these questions? @7:11 and @7:15 and again NOW.
Uh oh a very special scary black man warning in today's crime post. Watch out for someone with black skin wearing a hat and pants. Par for the course for Dyer and his NPI ilk.
"4200 Military Road NW" is in DC, #Birdbrain!
Are you reporting that because it just happens to be a block from Maggiano's?
7:04: Are you sure you're not talking about the Democratic Party, which was the slaveowners' party, and founded the KKK? The same Democratic Party whose sheriff in a Maryland county was just forced out of office for making racist and anti-Semitic remarks? In 2016!
7:11: Duke has renounced his past, as well. He remains a pariah. Why would the Democratic Party give a free pass to Klansman Byrd? Hmmm.
10:45: Actual Friendship Heights residents are glad I alerted them to a possibly armed man at large in their community.
7:52: You're the idiot who talked about the group, not me. I never even heard of this group before this past weekend's TV coverage. I don't even know what their platform is. Based on their willingness to engage in an offensive salute, that's all I need to know to reject such a group. They do have a right to assemble peacefully, however, as they did.
"Duke speaks against what he describes as Jewish control of the Federal Reserve Bank, the U.S. federal government, and the media. Duke supports the preservation of what he considers to be Western culture and traditionalist Christian family values, abolition of the Internal Revenue Service, voluntary racial segregation, anti-communism and white separatism."
I guess I missed Duke's "renunciation".
6:36: You know very well the topic was the KKK regarding former Klan members Byrd and Duke, and their later renunciation of their role and of violence. Byrd was mysteriously and conveniently absolved of crimes you simply can't be absolved from. It's no wonder the Democratic Party is still struggling with its racist legacy, including the Democrat sheriff of Howard County who was forced to resign in 2016 - 2016!!! - when it's given absolution to monsters like Byrd.
Robert Dyer apparently has never learned "The First Rule of Holes".
"When you're in one, quit digging."
7:26: You're the one in the hole, not me. You're there with an "Exalted Cyclops," and believe me, that's not a good look.
7:46: If you're going to make libelous, false statements, they're going to be deleted.
If the Democratic Party is the party that is "struggling with a racist legacy", then why do 95% of all African-Americans support that party?
In the 14 presidential elections starting with 1964 when the Democrats passed the Civil Rights Act, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina voted for the Republican candidate 13 out of 14 times.
7:57: That is indeed one of the most baffling questions of our time.
8:11: And in the 1990s, Bill and Hillary Clinton were the leading supporters of a crime bill that disproportionately jailed blacks in mass numbers. Hillary called black youth "superpredators" at the time. Even more recently, she declared KKK Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd her "mentor," among other glowing superlatives. And in 2016, the Democratic sheriff of Howard County was ousted for racist and anti-Semitic remarks. Plenty of racism on both sides.
Agreed that swastikas are not typically used in crimes against the right.
Dear Robert: May I ask what in my message could have possibly caused you to respond with the mature retort: "You're the idiot who talked about the group, not me". I have never called you names, I have sometimes agreed with your positions, and sometimes questioned or disagreed with them, but I have never resorted to name calling. I don't think it makes me an idiot to raise awareness about what a group like NPI stands for. Pretending they don't exist or that I don't know what they stand for would make me complicit and perhaps an "idiot", especially given their connection to Stephen Bannon, the new administration's Chief Strategist. I would have expected "one of MoCo's leading journalists" and a strong Trump supporter to be aware of NPI and its views. Taking you at face value, I am astonished that you weren't. I find it amusing then, that after apparently making you aware of NPI and their views and your renunciation of these views, your response would be to call me an idiot for raising your awareness. The 7:52 "Idiot"!!!
I agree that the key story is that white nationalists are giving the Nazi salute in a restaurant in Washington, DC.
Yes, there is a First Amendment issue, but the primary story is the resurgence of neo-Nazi beliefs and hate speech.
Scrawling a swastika on someone's door is a hate crime. Period.
If this is a sincere question, it is dangerously ignorant. I suggest that you visit the Holocaust Museum to educate yourself on the horrors that a white supremacy movement can unleash.
If this question is sacastic, the attempt at 'humor' is offensive.
8:04 is correct. Robert Byrd repudiated the KKK and embraced civil rights.
Dyer @ 7:57 AM - It's only "baffling" to someone who has never had a conversation with a live African-American person, and who locks all the doors on his car the moment it crosses Western Avenue.
1:50: I think after badgering me on a topic separate from that of this article, posting false libelous statements about me & groups you fantasize I support or defend, that "idiot" qualifies as a gentlemanly response.
No, I - like most Americans - had never heard of this group before last weekend. Their use of Nazi salutes and specific term "lying press" raises many suspicions after those talking points were set up in advance by the media and anti-Trump folks. And then these guys show up with Tila Tequila and it was a bravura acting performance indeed. As a skeptical journalist, my Spider Sense is certainly tingling that there is something fishy about this.
Why would a group supposedly trying to put a modern, mainstream face on white nationalism make a Nazi salute, thereby instantly wiping out whatever respectable appeal they had sought to project? Come on. It's just not believable.
6:18: No, it's baffling to someone like me, who has been through the dangerous neighborhoods of D.C. and Baltimore, both of which have been led by Democratic officials exclusively for decades. Chicago, Detroit, the list goes on. Why would someone living in what often seems more like a war zone than a neighborhood keep voting for the people who made it that way? It's insane.
2:10: So did David Duke - and your point is? Do you really believe Robert Byrd sincerely believed in civil rights, and was qualified to hold public office after being a leader in a domestic terrorist group? God help us!
1:47: I disagree. The anti-Trump folks try to smear him with "fascist" and "Nazi" labels, so it would be totally logical that a swastika would be deployed against a Trump supporter - they've been demonized by our County Council since the election.
Secondly, the Trump supporter targeted in this case may well have been Jewish. We don't know, but again, there is nothing inherently "false flag" about this incident.
7:58: Your projection issues come to the fore again. You just described yourself and your hero, Klansman Robert Byrd.
Dyer @ 9:08 - So your only concern about the NPI is that they gave the Nazi salute?
Why would a group of people whose noble goal is to secure the existence of their people and a future for white children, suddenly ruin it all by giving Nazi salutes?
It buggers belief. Obviously a false flag operation, saith Dyer.
6:13: You spent your whole Thanksgiving holiday grunting about your disgraced Klansman hero Robert Byrd. Sad.
I did a quick review of yesterday's comments, and it looks like your "grunts" outnumber mine by about 6 to 1, in terms of word count. I guess your Thanksgiving wasn't very satisfying?
Also, you might consider reading a biography of your bogeyman-of-the-day, sometime over the long weekend. You might learn a thing or two.
"someone like me, who has been through the dangerous neighborhoods of D.C. and Baltimore"
Did you ever get out of your car?
9:20: No, I'm not that dumb.
Oh yes you are.
Robert: Your inaccurate denunciations of Robert Byrd and the Democratic Party on racial issues are offensive.
See @7:11's comment on Robert Byrd. Robert, your effort to tar Byrd is despicable. Yes, Byrd was an active member of the KKK during his early years, but he renounced racist stances early in his career and thereafter committed himself to supporting civil rights.
The Democratic Party has consistently championed racial equality since Lyndon Johnson's Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, both of which were signed into law over 50 years ago. As you should be aware, the Republican Party thereafter absorbed Southern Democrats who favored segregation, an effort that commenced during the 1968 presidential campaign as Nixon's "Southern strategy." Nixon's approach has remained a constant of Republican strategy to date.
Robert, I have appreciated your accurate reporting on local planning and zoning issues, especially Westbard. It's sad to see you undercutting your credibility by fomenting baseless attacks on the Democratic Party and the late Robert Byrd. You have every right to be a member of the Republican Party and to support it. But you are not entitled to distort history and manipulate facts to support your political views.
2:45: I doubt many people in enlightened and educated Bethesda, Maryland are offended by my condemnation of Robert Byrd's history with the KKK. It's important to remember that Byrd didn't just show up a rally. Byrd was an "Exalted Cyclops" - a formal leader in the KKK, and a rank equivalent of being the county or state chair of a political party.
I have no interest personally in lambasting the Democratic Party for the racism in its history. But the recent effort by some MoCo elected officials to smear Republicans as "racist" and perpetrators of "hate crimes," combined with the nonsense repeatedly posted by one commenter on this article, requires a full examination of history.
The reality is there has been racism on both sides.
The KKK was, in fact, a paramilitary terrorist wing of the Democratic Party. It killed people. I'm not sure how someone can be a leader in that, and then simply "denounce" it, and move on to glory as a Senator, or even a dogcatcher, for that matter. I've noted that David Duke has renounced his past with the Klan. But he remains a pariah. The only explanation can be that the Republican Party has condemned Duke for decades, while the Democratic Party excused and enabled Byrd to take office, aided by his entering politics when national ideas on race were much different. In order to clear the taint from their party, it is essential to stress a fake moral conversion by Byrd - but, again, how can a Klan leader be absolved with an apology of convenience for his own personal gain?
Whatever a few people may have discussed and strategized about a "Southern strategy" in the GOP did not involve killing people! Can anyone name a current Southern GOP governor in 2016 who is a "racist"?
Moreover, the Democratic Party had its own race "strategy" in the 1960s, aside from being forced to embrace racial equality, after finding itself on the wrong side of history. If you look at the percentage of two parent African-American households historically, it wasn't tremendously less than white households - until the Great Society. The line then plunges on the graph, as black families were destroyed by the "Is there a man in the house?" test for receiving government benefits.
It was Republicans who drove the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through. A greater percentage of Republicans in Congress voted for it than did Democrats. It was an extension of earlier GOP civil rights measures passed during the Eisenhower years. Look at the roles of Everett Dirksen and Bill McCulloch in getting the Civil Rights Act through, ending segregation.
A few more "facts":
Black students in MCPS are more likely to be suspended than black students in Texas - in 2016! The MoCo political machine has opposed every black candidate for U.S. Senate since 2006. We will now have an all-white-male delegation to Congress from Maryland. It's a national embarrassment. And the Democratic sheriff of Howard County was just ousted this year - this year!! - for racist and anti-Semitic statements he allegedly made.
Again, unlike some, I do not set out to smear people of one political party because some members of it have engaged in racism today or in the past.
But I will not hesitate to respond with facts, when I or my party are falsely attacked and accused of such things. There are many things to not be proud of in politics on both sides. Rather than attack each other, it would be far more productive for Republicans and Democrats to cooperate on moving the country forward.
Over a year later, and you still can't figure out how to compare fractions and percentages in those reports on the disparity of suspensions for African-American students?
http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2015/11/black-students-more-likely-to-be.html?showComment=1446842557219&m=1
The disparity in MCPS is just under double, whereas in Texas it's more than triple. Anyone who is capable of basic arithmetic understands that the latter rate is far greater than the former.
7:31: Over a year later, and you're still lying about it. Now you're not only making fake claims, but you've actually reversed it! Black students are 3x more likely to be suspended than white students in MCPS. In Texas, they are only twice as likely to be suspended.
I know it just enrages you that the racism of your infallible MoCo political cartel is being exposed, and that's why I love that statistic.
Check your privilege.
Congratulations, Dyer. You still can't read or do the most basic numerical analysis. You got the statistics exactly backwards. Again.
Saith Dyer: "If you look at the percentage of two parent African-American households historically, it wasn't tremendously less than white households - until the Great Society. The line then plunges on the graph, as black families were destroyed by the "Is there a man in the house?" test for receiving government benefits."
What is this "graph" you are citing? What are the actual statistics for African-American children living with only a mother, In 1964? In 1996 (the year "welfare reform") passed? In 2016? And the same statistics for White children?
@ 11:46 - Facebook meme. Posted by Abraham Lincoln. LOL
10:09: All anybody has to do to verify I'm correct is to read the reports. The MoCo report says 3x, and the Texas report says 2x. [Mic drop] Moron.
11:42: The graph was of two-parent households, by race. If you haven't studied the topic, and don't know the stats, why are you arguing about it?
"A graph"? No source? It just came out of nowhere?
And once again Dyer deletes the data from the Texas report to which he linked last year.
Texas: African-Americans = 13% of public school students, 43% of suspensions. 43% is 3.3x 13%, not "2x".
Why do you keep trying to deny something so obvious?
"We will now have an all-white-male delegation to Congress from Maryland. It's a national embarrassment."
Elijah Cummings and Anthony Brown both nearly had heart attacks from uncontrollable bouts of laughter.
7:17: Because you are flat-out lying, and making up your own fake numbers, Saul Alinsky. The ****ing report says exactly what I wrote. Go ahead and write your own fake report, but you can't change the fact that the MoCo report SAYS 3X, and the Texas report says 2x.
Who do you you believe - the scholarly, published reports I quoted directly, or the mentally ill coward posting his own made up numbers and equations, and can't even tell us his name?
The educated people of Bethesda are laughing at you, and would thoroughly enjoy punching you in the face if they weren't so civilized and enlightened. Now crawl back into whatever alt-left, Robert Byrd-loving hole you crawled out of.
8:13: They probably did when you tried to convince them their districts were in Montgomery County.
7:08: I just told you what it was. If you don't know the numbers, and are too lazy to do the research I've done, why are you arguing?
You said "delegation from Maryland", Birdbrain.
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