OPINION:
Attorney General Bill Barr’s Justice Department has sent a message to local and state officials in the form of the Golden Rule: Do unto houses of worship as you do unto protesters, arsonists and burglars.
Don’t rush to judgment against the Justice Department, though. The Justice Department is not the police, so there’s no need to twist your Calvin Kleins into a wedgie.
However, the Justice Department is America’s gatekeeper to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — which means when that right is stifled, Justice is obligated to speak out as it did.
In a letter dated June 10 and addressed to Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric Dreiband wrote: “In identifying the conditions under which gatherings for protest may proceed in Montgomery County, the Council should ensure that it imposes no more onerous conditions on gatherings for religious exercise than it does on gatherings for other purposes.”
The Justice Department letter specifically cited Montgomery County Executive Order No. 070-20, which bans all gatherings of more than 10 persons.
No fellowship, praying, singing or reading Scripture in synagogues, churches or mosques, including the basement or kitchen of a houses of worship to cook food and feed the hungry.
Mr. Elrich has a lot of explaining to do.
He has been shouted down by residents and other stakeholders who have been protesting his heavy-handed lockdown. In fact, he has been shouted down by his own constituents every time he attempted to make a point at one of his press conferences.
Yet he gave free reign to thousands protesting the killing of George Floyd, allowing protesters this weekend to shut down Rockville Pike, the corridor used by residents, commuters, truckers and travelers to get from point A thru Z in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region.
Moreover, Mr. Elrich, a Democrat and the voice and face of Montgomery County, has effectively accused the entire Montgomery County Police Department of running amok, saying just this Tuesday: “It seems like an officer problem, but I assure you this is an institutional problem. [Officers] do largely what they’re told. if we’re going to fix this, it starts top down in terms of what we direct our officers to do.”
In effect, he bad mouthed the police chief, ranking officers, beat cops, the county council and everyone of authority in Montgomery County not named Marc Elrich.
Small wonder, then, he now wants someone from “the outside” to tell him what’s wrong with MoCo’s police force. When all else fails as a cover, create a task force, right?
Who knows whether Mr. Elrich and Montgomery County, neighbor to District and our lone regional jurisdiction still on lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, will be the only local government put on notice by the Justice Department. I doubt it since there are executive orders, curfews and videos from other cities and counties as well for evidence.
For sure, congressional Democrats shouldn’t come crying to Washington for post-COVID-19 policing money, even though their folks opened the floodgates to the legitimate protesters, hooligans and mayhem.
Indeed, protesters were out again Thursday, but not because of the Floyd killing; they were out because of Mr. Elrich’s slow pace to reopen Montgomery County.
Between the Justice Department urging Mr. Elrich toward unlocking the doors to houses of faith and taxpayers demanding him to effectively ease the lockdown, Mr. Elrich knows what he should do.
The people have spoken. Follow their lead.
• Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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