Immigration Rally in Charlotte
Here’s a small bit from the local section of today’s Charlotte Observer, regarding the immigration rally held here on Saturday:
Charlotte and Mecklenburg County officials today should receive a letter and a video link showing a lack of visible police presence at the start of Saturday's immigration rally, said William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC in Raleigh.
Gheen said several officers showed up only after he complained in person at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
CMPD spokesman Keith Bridges didn't return Observer calls for comment. Officers working Sunday said they didn't have information about the number of officers present Saturday. Observers said they saw several officers at the rally.
Between 5,000 and 7,000 people showed up at the rally, and police have said it was peaceful.
So what the group did was to film the rally, then complain that CMPD didn’t send enough cops. The guy actually went in person to the police department to demand more of a police presence. There are several things I’m trying to figure out here. First, since this rally (like all the others around the country) was peaceful, it seems that no more police were needed. Second, if they wanted illegal immigrants in the crowd arrested, then they would need federal authorities, not the CMPD, and it would mean intentionally creating a riot. Third, exactly what point are they trying to make?
2 comments:
The point is that any large gathering, protest, or rally in a major city is required to have some security present. This is a standard all Americans are held to.
This standard was waived for the pro-illegal alien protestors at the Marshall Park event.
It was not a case of there not being enough officers. The first two hours of the event, there were NO police officers.
Where in America do you find crowds in cities, much less 5-7 thousand people and no visible police whatsoever?
The question of police presence is in dispute—unnamed “observers” say they were there, while William Gheen claimed none came until he specifically requested it. I wasn’t there so I don’t know. I would actually be interested in hearing the police response (if there has been one in the press, I missed it). However, given the peaceful nature of the rally, it just looks like the invention of a dispute in order to issue a press release after the fact. I think we (i.e. the public) would be better served by debate over immigration rather than this.
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