Tensions were high at a community meeting about safety in Gaithersburg Thursday evening.
County officials held the meeting, hosted by Councilmember Dawn Luedtke at South Lake Elementary School, to address public safety, but some residents said they think officials are not doing enough to protect residents.
About 45 minutes into presentations on social services, recent crime and current law enforcement efforts, some residents in the audience began to speak up because they wanted to move past the speakers and begin discussion with the audience. Presentations were stopped and the discussion started.
Two topics led the conversation going forward: the fatal police shooting of Elliott Powers and ICE arrests in the community.
“You didn’t even say Elliott Powers’ name, that’s why we’re here,” said Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, co-founder and co-director of Racial Justice NOW!. “Elliott Powers deserved to live.”
Powers was fatally shot by police on July 12 while sitting at a Gaithersburg bus stop with a gun.
“Okay, let me talk about Elliott Powers for a moment with what I can say,” Luedtke said. “What happened to Mr. Powers was tragic and created anxiety.”
She said she can’t talk about the case due to the Police Accountability Act of 2021 that created an independent investigations division.
“There are certain rules and processes that go along with that,” Luedtke said.
“You sound like a politician. We need to know if you’re human, you don’t even sound like you’re human right now,” Sankara-Jabar said.
Earlier this month, there was a protest in Gaithersburg calling on city officials to speak up about ICE after two people, including a mother of three whose oldest child spoke out, were arrested by ICE on city property at the Bohrer Park parking lot in July.
During the meeting, participants were able to submit questions through a QR code or hand-write questions on a notecard.
Earl Stoddard, Montgomery County assistant chief administrative officer, was designated to answer submitted questions from behind podium near the front of the room.
“When there is an ICE intervention, people can absolutely call the police,” Stoddard said. “The police will come and they will observe what’s happening, and they’ll record with body-worn camera, they’ll record with their police cruisers.”
Residents met the statement with scrutiny.
“They’ll watch ICE gun us down? They’ll stand there and watch? Is that what they’re going to do?” one unidentified man asked. “That’s what they’re going to do! Isn’t it? They’re not going to arrest them when they’re flagrantly breaking the law, are they?”
Stoddard replied. “The position of the Montgomery County Police Department is that if they observe ICE breaking law, they will intervene,” he said.
Some residents in attendance continued asking pointed questions to the policymakers. Others were more patient.
“They are serving day and night. They are leaving their families back and they are serving us,” one unidentified woman said. “Let them speak!”
Stoddard said the county has an ICE reporting portal that he reviews each day. There are between three and eight reports per day, which is a small percentage of incidents, he said. The reports help the county direct resources to families affected by ICE, Stoddard said.
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