Speakers and notable attendees included Montgomery County Executive candidate Robin Ficker, Montgomery County Council District 2 candidate Edward Amatetti, and Brigitta Mullican, a Rockville resident who has been one of the leading critics of the effort to officially declare Rockville a sanctuary city.
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| A small group of counter-protesters were kept separate across the street by Montgomery County police |
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| Robin Ficker is mobbed by fans after lowering the boom on the County Council and MCPS in his speech |
Ficker suggested the county move 9th grade back to junior high, and leave grades 10, 11 and 12 at the high school level, arguing that kids are being forced to grow up too fast. He noted that, while Rockville H.S. had more than 100 security cameras, no one was monitoring them.
Amatetti paused during his speech to ask the crowd to "pray real, real hard for the young, brave girl" who was the victim in this case. He said the school system and the county have "real problems" that need to be addressed.
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| Ficker poses with a large contingent of legal Asian immigrants |
Several immigrants who had legally achieved citizenship through great effort and cost, or were seeking to do so legally, decried the county's effort to give those who haven't followed the rules special status. Lucas, a resident of Kensington who did not wish to give his last name, said he has been in the U.S. for 3 years on a student visa. Now he has applied for citizenship, and has been told the process will take 3 to 5 years. It's "unfair," he said, for those who broke the rules to gain the rewards of citizenship in Montgomery County before those who play by the rules.
Mullican called it "unfair for the legal immigrants who waited their turn and came here through the system." She emigrated legally to America from Germany with her family in 1956, and had to wait until 1968 to become a citizen. "I understand the immigration process, and the privilege of being a U.S. citizen," she said.
Several attendees carried signs demanding the resignation of MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith, Smith has so far declined to comply with the growing calls locally and nationally for him to step down. He has gained national notoriety for seeming more concerned about immigration politics than about the rape victim. Smith "speaks far more harshly about xenophobia than he does about sexual assault of a child," said Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson.
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| Bethesda resident Jerry Cave was master of ceremonies for the rally |
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| Montgomery County Young Republicans VP Dan McHugh |
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| Parents want Smith out |
33 comments:
That doesn't look like "hundreds". That looks like about 50. Do you have any pictures of the crowd from farther away?
That bunch of Asians looks kind of familiar.
50? No way. Way more than that. Very diverse crowd, as your comment notes. A lot of anger out there over the security lapses and policies that facilitated the rape, and about the botched response by MoCo and MCPS.
6:11 AM Two words: Hans Reimer
"Way more than that"
And your statement is based on what?
Washington Post says crowd was at least 100.
We're seeing more protests against this Council that any other in recent memory.
6:17: There you go. If you don't believe me, maybe you will believe the Washington Post.
6:23: It's unprecedented. I can't recall any citizen protests against the Council in recent years before Save Westbard started it last year. It reflects how out of control the County Council and Planning Board and MCPS now are, and how they aren't listening to their constituents anymore.
This County Council definitely needs to be protested and hopefully voted out.also many in Maryland General Assembly.
Please stop re-victimizing the girl by repeatedly reporting what was done to her.
If you have any real concern, and are not using this for political benefit, you will stop victimizing the victim.
Thank you.
@6:34 I doubt the victim reads Dyer's blog on a regular basis.
@6:34 Maybe if we stop talking about what happened it will go away.I'm sure the Council and Dr Smith would like that.
Dyer is Trumping up the size of the crowd like the size of his member. #FAKE numbers. Neither one is YUGH!
OMG What callous fucks you are.
It didn't say not to talk about what happened.
It said there is no reason to repeat over and over the details of what happened to her.
Doing so is re-victimizing her.
And if that is what you want to do, if it's of no concern to you to harm the girl even more than she's been harmed already, then please, go ahead.
The Post's article said "about a hundred", not "over a hundred" and certainly not "hundreds".
Is there anything that Dyer and his supporter will not twist, distort, or blatantly lie about?
I was there yesterday and agree the total was closer to 100.
Looks like the sole comment on RockvilleNutz is giving Dyer some push-back:
"Haha, "hundreds"? To quote Al Gore, that's some fuzzy math Robert. You had a tiny group despite Fox, Sean Spicer, and everyone else hyping this issue.
"Good to see Robin Ficker has gone from yelling about refs to yelling about immigrants.
"I just realized why he loved the old Cap Center Bullets so much...because they lost as much he does."
There are hundreds as can be seen on various pictures shared at #mdpolitics on Twitter and elsewhere. Far more came out than the unions could pay to counter protest. These protests have been going on in multiple locations for over 4 days now.
Sir Robert Dyer is most excellent juornalist. He has been utmost helpful to helping my widowered mother to obtain the benefits of my late father's lost fortune.
Will Superintendent Smith survive this?
I think it's plain that the demonstrators were largely motivated conservatives and other Trump Build the Wall people. Moreover, anytime you have unhinged Robin Ficker on your side, let alone "mob" him to get photos taken, you have to wonder how representive of MoVo this crowd was.But good to see that you included raped & sodomized this time Robert. Sometimes you forgot the sodomy and it has a greater wow factor for sure.
I read amost article recently about a Gautamalan Man living in Florida who was just given a life sentence in prison for repeatedly raping and impregnatingredients a 10 years old girl in Florida.I believe he was "Undocumented"
sorry for typos in 8:33 comment
So-do-MEE, so-do-MA,
So-do-MEE,
So-do-MA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA...
I sing my happy song...
https://wftv.relaymedia.com/amp/news/local/bartow-man-gets-life-sentence-for-raping-impregnating-10-year-old/484112511
I thought that group looked familiar.
http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2017/03/legal-immigrants-turn-out-in-force-to.html?m=1
I wonder how many of those who came yesterday, actually live in this county.
I don't have to agree with Ficker on everthing, but he brought us term limits. For that, I thank him.
He's like a rock star in these photos!
Rockville Rally, 100 Maryland Ave. – Sunday, March 26, 2017
Brigitta Mullican, Rockville, MD 20851; Email: coburg1@verizon.net
The Rockville High School (RHS) brutal rape has brought focus to a national problem of illegal undocumented immigrants and that is why I am here. Our county attracts illegal immigrant. I am very passionate about this subject. This is unfair for the legal immigrants who waited their turn and came here through the system.
Montgomery County, where the alleged rape took place, is on a list of jurisdictions that have enacted policies, which limit cooperation with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Yet officials in Montgomery County are constantly pushing to make our area a sanctuary place for illegal immigrants.
This is a high concern for me. “When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders, it undermines ICE’s ability to protect the public safety and carry out its mission.” Does Federal Law not trump local law?
The MD House of Representatives passed HB 1632 that would essentially make the entire state a safe haven for illegal aliens, criminals or otherwise. I have written to our Maryland legislators asking they oppose the “Maryland Trust Act” Bill, 1632. This Maryland Bill has everything to do with the how a community should handle the 17 and 18 year old illegal immigrants in RHS who committed a serious crime against a 14-year old student. One of the two males had an immigration detainer. Why was ICE not involved? It is unclear to me if our Montgomery County will comply with the Federal immigration laws in the future. I do hope that MCPS reviews and changes its practice and procedures.
It is not only the horrendous crime that is eating at me, it is that our Maryland and County legislators are so in favor of making sure we don’t focus on the real problems and support higher taxes with less protection.
I do care about people and there is no way we can take care of all the immigration problems. I am not a racist and I strongly believe in law and order. I understand hardships refugees encounter. I do have compassion for them. However, there must be a very serious vetting process.
During WWII, my Father’s family was forced out of his German hometown and in my mother’s hometown; refugees were helped and taken into their homes. My parents and two brothers immigrated to America in 1956 for a better life. My aunt sponsored and helped our family settle into the American culture. In the 50’s there were immigration quotas and there are good reasons for them today. I understand the immigration process and the privilege of being a US Citizen. In April 1968 as a Richard Montgomery High School student, I made my citizenship. That year was a turbulent one with the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War.
I tell my story because now I understand why my parents immigrated. Who knew that Germany and America would face the same problems we have today. As a naturalized citizen, I expect our law officials to enforce all laws and have legislators make the best laws for all.
It's an unsettling and outrageous crime, but journalists like Dyer have to report it.
WPost is reporting that the defense attorneys are saying it was consensual, and have texts from the victim to prove it:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/rockville-high-school-rape-suspect-contends-sexual-contact-was-consensual/2017/03/27/b19d06ea-1332-11e7-9e4f-09aa75d3ec57_story.html?utm_term=.863ac1bd3b85
I still think MCPS is incompetent with security in general and Smith should resign though.
9:34: The victim-shaming begins. Well, the lawyers admitted they were going to take this tack. It will be fascinating to see how that defense plays in progressive-feminist Montgomery County, even though in reality, the defense team hasn't produced any actual evidence yet - just threats to try and intimidate the victim.
The primary issue-- aside from the criminal trial-- is security in the public schools, in this case Rockville High School. The immigration status of the alleged perpetrators is incidental. The placement of students aged 17+ in a ninth grade class should be reviewed from a security perspective.
I would like to hear more about the security issues in this case, as well as MCPS's plans to improve security at Rockville High and throughout the school system.
Thank you @3:45.
A plan forward, without histrionics.
Progress.
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