Monday, March 27, 2017

Residents rally to demand change, accountability after Rockville HS gang rape (Video+photos)

Hundreds of residents gathered in front of the Montgomery County Council Building in Rockville yesterday to demand elected officials and MCPS be held accountable for their roles in the alleged gang rape of a 14-year-old girl at Rockville High School. Protesters held signs demanding MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith resign, and against Montgomery County sanctuary policies that allowed the girl's alleged attackers to live here and enroll in 9th grade despite being much older. The rape allegedly took place in a bathroom at the school on March 16.

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.

A small group of counter-protesters
were kept separate across the street
by Montgomery County police
A small group of less than 20 counter-protesters set up across Maryland Avenue from the protest, and attempted to shout down speakers throughout the event, despite lacking the numbers to do so. The poor showing was likely due to the fact that very few in the county believe the accused rapists should have been in the 9th grade. And to the mass outrage over the security lapses that facilitated the alleged suspects' brutal bathroom attack, during which they allegedly repeatedly raped and sodomized the victim, as she screamed for help that never came.
Robin Ficker is mobbed by
fans after lowering the boom
on the County Council and MCPS
in his speech
In a speech to the crowd, Ficker ripped County elected officials and MCPS for their mishandling of the Rockville H.S. rape, and of crime in their schools in general. Ficker cited recent reports of violent crimes that occurred at the school just weeks before the gang rape, and were covered up by administrators. In one, a girl was beaten and kicked in the head three times, he said - yet parents were never informed this happened. These were warning signs that should have resulted in tighter security weeks ago, Ficker said.

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.
Ficker poses with a large
contingent of legal Asian
immigrants
The crowd was diverse, including Asians, African-Americans and Latinos. One attendee was overheard noting that the counter-protesters across the street were whiter than the crowd they were counter-protesting against.

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.
Bethesda resident Jerry Cave
was master of
ceremonies for the rally








Montgomery County
Young Republicans VP
Dan McHugh

Parents want
Smith out

12 comments:

  1. 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.

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    Replies
    1. When men cross the border illegally and we have no idea their age or history there is NO REASON to allow them to attend school with our 13 yr olds.

      I actually live here. Young illegal immigrant men are especially vulnerable to gang recruitment. We cannot allow a huge swarm of unaccounted for young men to live in our community. What do you think happens?? Do you think they magically cross the border and even though they're here illegally with no real chance at a future and they're surrounded by gang members and up till now their whole life has been about murder & drugs & rape....you think they magically become upstanding young men when their longitude and latitude changes?

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    2. Interesting, but unsubstantiated points... but still RACIST.

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    3. 9:53: You criticize the crowd size, but you could only muster 19 people across the street. Are you subscribing to the Dan Reed "silent majority" idea?

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  2. I have no doubt that the drunk drivers Robin Ficker has defended and put back on the road have hurt and killed more people than the immigrants he scapegoats.

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  3. Looks like Dyer didn't get the support for his lynching campaign that he was hoping for.

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    Replies
    1. 12:41: And it "looks like," judging from the 19 counter-protesters you rounded up, that "you didn't get the support" for the idea that 2 gang rapes of minor girls per year is an acceptable price to pay for your political agenda "that you were hoping for."

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  4. Except that despite all your carping about the council, there IS a large silent majority, because the sanctuary policies, etc that you keep railing about are part of why we, the silent majority, keep electing them.

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    Replies
    1. That was a different era. Term limits passed for the first time with about 70% of the vote last year, and voters will finish throwing the rest of the bums out in 2018. Likewise, in the post-3/16 era in Montgomery County, sanctuary policies no longer are guaranteed widespread support.

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  5. And the rest of the bums will still reflect the popular will of the majority of the county, which does not want to see local LE turned into an arm of ICE. You throw a lot of stuff out without evidence, so since we're doing that, I don't know anyone pro or con to sanctuary who had their mind changed by this incident.

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  6. If you want to know how it feels to be raped, just sit next to Robin Ficker during a sporting event.

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  7. save our girls from rape and liberals! HA! LOVE IT

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