The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition is holding another rally to protest the desecration of Moses African Cemetery this afternoon, April 28, 2021 at 5:00 PM near the cemetery site at 5238 River Road in Bethesda. A self-storage building is being constructed on land that directly adjoins the cemetery's recorded boundaries.
Advocates expressed concern that remains buried beyond the property line of the cemetery might be disturbed by the excavation and construction, but those and other concerns were dismissed by the Montgomery County Planning Board. An archaeologist retained by the self storage developer has stated no remains or funerary objects were encountered during the work so far. BACC has responded that an independent expert is needed to provide fully objective analysis.
13 comments:
Daily reminder. The alleged cemetary land was owned by a Black benevolent society years ago. They decided to sell it. The current owners have legal posession of the land.
The church can take it up with the original seller if they have an issue. Let's respect property rights.
Will restoration of the Moses Cemetery require demolition of the McDonalds?
7:09: No, it is not on the cemetery site.
1:22: There's still a lot to sort out about who knew what as the land changed hands over the years, and the illegal desecration of the site since the 1950s and late 1960s. We know who committed the acts in the late 60s, and that the owner at that time knew it was a black cemetery. We don't know who bulldozed the grave markers prior to that atrocity.
But the McDonald's is right in front of the cemetery site - between it and River Road.
It seems that for unfettered access from River Road for the Descendants to visit, the McDonald's would need to go.
"There's still a lot to sort out about who knew what as the land changed hands over the years, and the illegal desecration of the site since the 1950s and late 1960s."
Not to diminish what was done, but is any party that was involved actually still alive?
Apart from the access issue I mentioned above, what should be done to right this wrong? Should the garage be demolished? Should the apartment building be demolished?
8:50: McDonald's is not on or adjacent to the cemetery, and therefore not relevant in any way to the discussion. Access to the site is controlled by Montgomery County and the owners of the land where the cemetery is actually located.
We won't know if the parties involved are alive until the County and other authorities actually conduct an investigation into the matter. What should be done is a matter for the law, the descendants and any other legal parties to determine.
What should be done is a matter for the law, the descendants and any other legal parties to determine.
So where is the lawsuit? I agree if there is a dispute, let's have the courts sort it out. Are the protestors claiming the courts refuse to hear the suit, or is it that they never actually brought one?
9:18: You're referring to civil suits, which have to be brought by the parties involved. But Montgomery County and the state of Maryland should be investigating the crimes that were committed over the decades, which they can do at any time, but are so far refusing to. Black lives only matter to the MoCo cartel until they start challenging the cartel and its corrupt interests. Then police cars start showing up after white officials call them in to silence or remove the black protesters. Our officials are similar to the governor of Virginia - "woke" in public, but privately racist.
state of Maryland should be investigating the crimes that were committed over the decades
If there is a crime, it should be reported to the MoCo police, not the state. There is also a statute of limitations.
If any "crimes" were committed I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations has run on them. What exactly do these protesters want? And why should any private property owner voluntarily give up their rights in the name of "social justice"?
1:35: There is no statute of limitations on this type of crime. In addition to Montgomery County, the Maryland Attorney General could investigate this if he wanted to. So could the federal government. Disturbing graves is way beyond a question of "social justice."
Disturbing graves is in Section 10-402 (2019) of MD Criminal Code. It's a misdemeanor and the maximum penalty is 5 years prison or $10k fine.
Regarding Statue of Limitations, this is in Section 5-102 of MD Courts and Judicial Proceedings. I see no reference that this misdemeanor has a statue of limitations long than the typical 3 years for most criminal acts. I find it highly unlikely MD has extended the statute of limitations for a misdemeanor.
But let's say they have. This supposed incident took place when, in the 1950s? Let's say the person who did it was 25 then, that would make them in their 90s now. What's the likelihood that:
a) They are still alive
b) The prosecutor is going to go after a 90-year old man for a misdemeanor.
7:09: There was a lot more than disturbing graves in the construction of Westwood Tower. What you're describing would be more accurate for the initial bulldozing of the grave markers sometime between the 1950s and mid-60s. But witnesses to the late 60s construction have reported that remains within the building's footprint were illegally and covertly relocated, including into a mass grave nearby. This was also done with the full knowledge that this was a black cemetery, and against additional laws governing the encountering of gravesites during excavations.
It's intriguing that a defender of the Montgomery County cartel is so off-message in the Black Lives Matter era, but it's certainly consistent with their public "equity lens" while-remaining-privately-racist paradigm.
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