The ICE Facility in Williamsport is Just a Chess Game, and the Community Members are Pawns (Opinion)

Today, probably as you’re reading this article, Governor Moore and Congressional Representative April McClain Delaney are meeting in Hagerstown with “news media” and “community leaders” to discuss the ICE warehouse in Williamsport, Maryland. But there’s just one problem – the news media as well as organizations working the hardest to provide transparency around the facility plans are being left in the dark.

We here at Radio Free Hub City had been informed of a social media post several days ago which was an email for news media to RSVP to the event. Just like previous events featuring McClain Delaney in Hagerstown, we did not receive an invite. Now this is not surprising, as her office also ignored our request to be added to her list for press releases, and instead found ourselves on a completely useless newsletter of political manifestos mostly focused on why she dislikes President Trump. Whereas we are a site focused on news events and not a gossip site, these emails had zero value for us. Given the fact that we did not receive an invitation, and that Delaney’s office has previously ignored our outreach, we did not bother to contact the email in an attempt to RSVP, and will continue to respect her office’s silence in like kind.

We also weren’t surprised when everyone’s favorite local agitator Shaun Porter attempted to register to attend under “Shaun Porter News” and was promptly denied access. Now, while Shaun Porter may be rather controversial, he does provide “news” of local drama equivalent to that of the Jerry Springer show, and while he certainly isn’t my go-to source for news, he still has a right to be there under the first amendment. Love him or hate him, the denial of Mr. Porter to attend as news media is a dangerous move, as it opens McClain Delaney’s office to a potential civil rights lawsuit for viewpoint discrimination.

But what did surprise us here is that Hagerstown Rapid Response, the local organization that is actually doing a lot of the legwork to find what information they can about the facility, did not get a seat at the table. A quote from Hagerstown Rapid Response is below from their press release on the matter:

“We were told directly from Governor Wes Moore’s team that they would reach out to Representative Delaney’s team to get Hagerstown Rapid Response a seat at this roundtable,” said Patrick Dattilio of Hagerstown Rapid Response. “Then we didn’t hear anything for nearly 24 hours. When we followed up ourselves and that’s when we were told we wouldn’t be allowed in. That’s not just disappointing, it’s revealing. The same community members who have been doing the work, breaking the stories, and forcing accountability are now being shut out of the very conversation we made necessary. The irony couldn’t be clearer: they’re coming here because of us, but they don’t want us in the room.”

We have been informed that Dattilio and other members of Hagerstown Rapid Response plan to attend the roundtable to attempt entry anyways.

So while the Washington County Government continues to try to control the narrative and shield what they can of their records regarding the ICE facility, including their non-transparent transparency around DHS communications, Governor Moore and Rep. McClain Delaney are doing what they can to control the narrative themselves by picking the “winners and losers” of news media and community leaders allowed to attend the event.

And when transparency and access fails on this many levels, everyone loses.

Opinion article by Ken Buckler, President of Radio Free Hub City. All opinions are his own, and do not reflect those of our clients or advertisers.

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