Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Rockville rape victim-shaming begins; ICE defies MoCo Council, arrests suspect's father

Lawyers for the two illegal immigrants charged with gang-raping a 14-year-old girl in a bathroom at Rockville High School warned in media interviews they would stoop low to defend their clients. Yesterday, they began their campaign of victim-shaming the girl in a court filing. According to the Washington Post, an attorney for alleged rapist Jose Montano, 17, again claims the encounter was consensual.

The attorney, David Wooten, also claims that the victim sent Montano "explicitly compromising images of herself" in text messages, and that she agreed to the encounter in advance via text. There's no indication Wooten has actually provided such evidence to the court yet, as he attempts to get his client bailed out of the unspecified juvenile facility he is locked up in.

Such legal boasts are clearly also an effort to intimidate the victim, in hopes that she will decline to provide the testimony that could put Montano and second suspect Henry Sanchez, 18, behind bars for life. They may also represent a craven attempt to appeal to a psychological weakness found in society regarding rape. "Why do we blame victims?" asked Juliana Breines, PhD, in a 2013 article. "The more innocent a victim, the more threatening they are. Victims threaten our sense that the world is a safe and moral place, where good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. When bad things happen to good people, it implies that no one is safe, that no matter how good we are, we too could be vulnerable."

Yet, even if such texts exist (for the sake of argument), they fail to prove rape didn't occur. "No" still means "no," and police say they have physical evidence of forcible rape in this case.

Meanwhile, for the second time in a week, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has delivered a cannonball to the gut of Montgomery County elected officials. Even as county politicians were declaring Montgomery wasn't a sanctuary county early last week, ICE at the same moment was releasing a list of such jurisdictions, and MoCo was on it. Yesterday, ICE struck again.

As first reported by Kevin Lewis of ABC7 News, the father of the other accused rapist Henry Sanchez, Adolfo Sanchez-Reyes, has been arrested by ICE agents. This appears to have been the first ICE raid within Montgomery County since President Donald Trump took office. The Montgomery County Council has previously gloated that they have held ICE from conducting raids in the county. This arrest suggests otherwise. Sanchez-Reyes is in the country illegally like his son. He was living in an unidentified apartment complex on Bel Pre Road, and is now behind bars in Jessup awaiting an immigration hearing.

If that wasn't enough, Attorney General Jeff Sessions blasted the Maryland General Assembly's Trust Act Monday, a proposed law that the Montgomery County Council played a major role in writing. Sessions said the Trust act would put "the State of Maryland at more risk for violence and crime," a charge with extra sting in the wake of the Rockville High gang rape and the execution-style murder of a Gaithersburg girl by the MS-13 gang she became involved with at Watkins Mill High School.

In his weekly news conference Monday, County Council President Roger Berliner stressed his belief that Montgomery is not a sanctuary county, but did admit "our county does not honor civil detainer requests," which he considers unconstitutional. He did not explain why he thought the federal government would ask the county to do something that was illegal. But as an attorney, he was careful to use some lawyerly language: "We fully comply with the law as we understand it to be."

14 comments:

  1. The very things people come to the US for from around the world...safety, relative low corruption, good schools, individual work ethic, sanitation, respect for law (i.e. even traffic laws) and others are being eroded slowly but surely. If anything, this country is going in the direction of the very countries people are trying to escape....unchecked immigration and lack of proper assimilation. Once this country has changed, it's very difficult going back. Now is the moment to decide.

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    1. It does seem to start at the top - with the County Council ignoring both federal law, and its own open data law, according to the Washington Post. Can residents now ignore the laws of our choice, as well?

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  2. It does seem to start at the top - Jeff Sessions has no problem breaking Federal laws like perjury, right?

    Seriously though - I eagerly await your multipart series that will come the next time a white kid rapes an MCPS classmate. I'm sure, because you obviously care so much about women and their safety in our community, that you will make multiple posts about it. Because you're totally not just using the alleged rape as a convenient way to push a wedge issue, right?

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    1. And you're totally not Just using a sanctuary city policy and fake accusations of racism as a convenient way to push a wedge issue, right?

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    2. I think the accusation of racism was clear and therefore not a "fake accusation". Likewise, the point NattyBo was clearly making is not addressed in your reply. If a 14 yr old is allegedly raped by a white young adult suspect would you provide the same report?

      And also, the current concern over immigration is absolutely motivated by racial fears.

      Google "Executive Order on Border Security and Immigration Enforcement" a study completed by the US gov. demonstrating what many academic studies also confirm.

      "Ignorance breeds misinformation and immorality breeds propaganda but both serve to corrupt."

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    3. How is enforcing the law of the United States "racist?" Using the R-word is a knee-jerk reaction by those who can't win on the merits of argument to simply shut the debate down. Kind of like Godwin's Law. "But..but..but..RACIST!!!!"

      Let's talk about race in Montgomery County, where black kids in MCPS are more likely to be suspended than black kids in Texas schools. Where black high school students, and recent black high school grads have severely lower employment rates than whites. Where the County Council opposed every black candidate for U.S. Senate since 2006. Where representatives of a black church have a peaceful protest at the MoCo Planning Department, and the Dept. calls in 7 police cars on them. And Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson has to surround himself with 3 armed police officers Secret Service-style to have a conversation with a black woman trying to hand him a petition from the church.

      Now THAT is racism.

      We've seen the lawlessness at the County Council, and it appears to be filtering down to the young people in our schools. Which law can I decide I won't follow? Or is it just our leaders who are above the law?

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  3. Who said you were racist? I'm simply replying to the things you have posted, repeatedly. I'm not pushing any issue, just pushing back on your, ahem, misguided at best, thoughts.

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  4. "white kid rapes an MCPS classmate". One could certainly come to the conclusion that an inference of racism was made.

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  5. Biased report. If needed I can elaborate but a google search for "journalism bias" will provide most with the knowledge needed to reach the same conclusion.

    The more troubling aspect of the media's treatment of this case is the conservative media's focus on this case as a justification for their immigration policy reform. First, no media should seek out or cherry pick stories to support politics. Secondly, but most importantly, it's a 14 year old girl alleging rape occurred. So no matter what is revealed I am positive that girl does not wish for her case to be thrust into the media spotlight and spun for political influence. Sadly I have seen reports from conservative outlets claiming bias in that main stream outlets had yet to report on the incident. What this shows is that bias from conservative MSM has become so severe that they admit their own bias in an effort to cast all other media as biased. The problem now is that viewers of most conservative outlets are just accustomed, or flat out supportive, of conservative media bias. Yes, all media is biased to a degree but as a journalism student that observes a multitude of sources daily I can definitively say that the normal MSM is nowhere near as biased as conservative media. You can take any popular issue and compare conservative and progressive mainstream outlets on journalistic merit and it is absolutely clear that conservative media cares very little for journalistic integrity or ethics. And, sadly a major reason for this problem is that their viewership condones and defends them. Now we are observing them feign sympathy while jumping at the opportunity to parade a rape case involving a 14 year old girl around. Sick is actually the most accurate description of the conservative media condition; an infectious, degenerative sickness afflicting the populace.

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    1. So we have your assurance there will be no more gun control stories in media immediately following a mass shooting? I don't believe the MSM is any less biased than conservative outlets. All I heard around the clock in October was about Trump's Access Hollywood tape, not Clinton's Wikileaks. That's a fact. Frankly, I don't find the major issues in Rockville and Montgomery County to be partisan in nature. Both parties agree that kids should be safe in school, traffic congestion is bad, and we need more high-wage private sector jobs here, after suffering a net-loss in jobs since 2000.

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    2. Why wouldn't there be gun control stories after a mass shooting? There should be questions concerning all aspects of the shooting. Considering the term used here is "shooting" I would imagine that things that shoot and factors enabling the shooting should be investigated.

      As for the normal MSM being equally biased on the issue of mass shootings I can guarantee that conservative MSM will reflect the influence of the Republican party and the NRA. They will focus on all contributing factors except gun control. They will openly criticize other media outlets for addressing gun control. As mentioned above, the event is a "shooting" therefore things that shoot and the factors enabling shootings should be investigated. And, very similar to this case, a tragedy should not be overshadowed by political agenda. I don't want to hear about a mass shooting, turn on the news, and see a reporter claiming CNN won't say this or Fox did this. I don't want to see this in print/online media either. The story here is a tragedy. It is the journalist job to provide the details of that tragedy and objectively report the relevant factors surrounding the tragedy. Not nearly as entertaining but less brainwashy.

      The funniest part about the NRA's influence on conservatives is that if you ask gun owners if components of a bill the NRA blocked seem like common sense a majority will agree. The other obviously funny point is that there is a multi-billion dollar industry supporting guns. What financial motivation exists for gun control?

      Normal MSM does frequently present what I consider incorrect gun death stats because they include suicides. I am pretty sure most people correlate gun deaths with homicides so those stats should always be clarified.
      The myth that Democrats want to roundup all guns is, unfortunately, widely believed and equally ridiculous. The US is loaded to the gills with guns. An initiative to remove guns from homes would clearly be disastrous. More importantly, politicians just want public favor and because of the NRA's influence any motion to regulate firearms sends public favor into a nosedive.

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    3. Are you implying above that normal MSM gave more coverage to Trump's grabbing tape than they did Wikileaks? Not even close. Even if normal MSM had wanted to bury the Wikileaks story it would have been reported by them more than the Trump tape. Trump tape involved far less points meriting investigation. Very cut & dry:
      Bush released the tape. It was confirmed to be Trump. He was a 59 year old man bragging in lewd terms about his ability to have sex with women and his tendencies for adultery. Trump apologized. Melania was instructed it was a setup. That's the story. Nothing to speculate and it only mirrored his other instances of sexual impropriety.
      Wikileaks on the other hand would be mentioned with every single hacked email release, every mention of the email investigation, every mention of Russian interference, every mention of the Podesta leaks. Perhaps on the week that Trump's tape was released there was a large disparity between normal MSM and conservative media coverage of leaks and the tape. Otherwise, it isn't even close. Because Trump had SO many scandals (Trump U, Bondi Bribe, Trump foundation, Miss Teen USA accusations, Miss Universe accusations, 9/11 grants, Gadaafi, etc. etc.) combined with a multitude of lies and campaign theatrics the normal MSM were inundated with story options. The Trump campaign was perhaps the greatest instance of gaslighting in western politics.

      Clinton story options? Email, Benghazi, Wikileaks, Healthcare, Clinton Foundation, Pizzagate? And of those, what is fact?

      Conservative MSM was starved for scandal and resorted to presenting allegations as facts. Meanwhile, the normal MSM was drowning in scandals and theatrics. Even the policy ideas that gained the most attention were surreal. A muslim ban? A border wall? illegal immigrant deportation? Pulling out from alliances like NATO and Japan? As a journalist, where do you even start? Gaslighting 101.

      As for the Rockville rape story being partisan? Absolutely. I can link to sources of conservative MSM blatantly making the issue partisan. Your own story focuses on the immigration issue far more than the safety of women or the issue of rape. And, even though I can only see demographical data, I can say with surety that the highest amount of rape cases in your community will not be from illegal immigrants. I cannot say what percentage of illegal immigrants have rape convictions but I can say that the inference that "Mexican illegal immigrants are rapists" sounds familiar. Therein lies bias for reasons I highly suspect of being political.

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    4. So, there should be questions about all aspects of a shooting immediately after a mass shooting, but not questions about all aspects of a gang rape by illegal immigrants immediately after a gang rape by illegal immigrants?

      Sounds like a hypocritical double standard to me.

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