Maryland county board meeting chaos after ICE detention center endorsed
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A suburban Maryland board meeting was taken off the air after whistles and protests erupted moments after officials approved a resolution approving cooperation with DHS, including the purchase of a warehouse in Williamsport that sparked outrage from Democrats.
A few miles south of the meeting, DHS had finalized the purchase of the $102 million property in Williamsport, just across the Potomac River from Falling Waters, West Virginia and about 75 miles from Washington, DC.
The property quickly became the scene of protests, including a video posted by Total Wine billionaire David Trone, a candidate for his former seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, in which he stood near a snowbank behind the center and said ICE was “executing people” and had no place in Maryland.
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Anti-ICE protesters are converging on a Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting in Hagerstown, Maryland this week. (Katharine Wilson/Getty Images)
Washington County Board Chairman John Barr slammed his gavel Tuesday as outrage erupted over the resolution, declaring that “the safety and security of our community is of the utmost importance” and that “DHS [and] ICE plays a crucial role in protecting our nation’s borders and is responsible for enforcing immigration laws, protecting the country from potential threats, and maintaining the rule of law for public safety. »
Barr’s vote appears to reflect most, if not all, board members saying “yes” but getting a “no!” and “no” from the audience – where people started whistling loudly, clapping and pointing at Barr.
Barr calmly announced “clear the room” and a broadcast producer could be heard saying, “Off the air!” Off the air” before the television feed was cut.
DHS hits back after US billionaire David Trone claims Ice ‘executes people’
Outside the building on Washington Street, a crowd of anti-ICE protesters also whistled and held signs reading “no concentration camps” and “no ICE prisons.”
“These ICE facilities, they’re inhumane, I don’t want them here,” protester Richard Hartman told Baltimore’s NBC.
Two counterprotesters held signs saying “Trump is your president” and “We Love ICE.”
Federal lawmakers in Maryland urged the county not to adopt the resolution. Rep. April McClain-Delaney — who Trone faces in the primary — called the plan “radical and dangerous” and forged in “darkness.”
“[It] is another example of the Trump administration acting without transparency, accountability and respect for human life,” she said.
Washington County is in a transition zone. To the east, Washington’s deep blue suburbs vote reliably Democratic. To the west, “Mountain Maryland” and the Maryland Panhandle form a pro-Republican stronghold, although they are grouped with some of the aforementioned suburbs in a blue-leaning congressional district.
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Closer to the nation’s capital, authorities in once-moderate Howard County blocked another ICE facility in Elkridge, according to the Baltimore station.
In northern Pennsylvania, Democrats have opposed similar deals, including a facility just off US-22 in Shartlesville — a rural community that was most recently home to the now-defunct Roadside America attraction.
In a statement to Fox News Digital about the Williamsport facility, Trone said ICE had “detained children as young as 5, U.S. citizens and veterans.”
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“ICE only needs to expand its detention space because reprehensible legislation was passed by Congress – with the support of Rep. April McClain Delaney – that deprives due process rights and expands this administration’s ability to carry out this cruel program.”
Republicans running for the seat, including Robin Ficker and Chris Burnett, have signaled support for immigration enforcement — and State’s Attorney Neil Parrott of Hagerstown, who formed an exploratory committee but hasn’t gone on record, said so in earlier comments to Fox News Digital.
