The last 2 weeks in Montgomery County have been especially horrific. By especially, I mean more horrific than the typical level of travesty that has taken hold of our county. Let’s do a quick recap.
- Last Friday through Sunday there were 5 shootings and 2 stabbings, including a poolside shoot out. (link)
- A report came out at the same time that car thefts were up 82% from 2022. (link)
- The previous week a man was shot in Damascus (link), and another commonly occurring hit and run took place.
- And let’s not forget the runner who fought off a rapist on a Montgomery County trail (link)
All of these events occurred against the backdrop of rising crime across the county. It simply is a fact that it is more unsafe in Montgomery County today than it was 6 months ago, much more than a year ago, and it looks like a different county compared to 18 months ago.
What is shocking is that none of this has registered on the radar of our elected officials. Or put more bluntly, none of this has deemed worthy to receive a comment by our elected officials. Outside of one posting by Council Member Marilyn Balcombe, the Council has not publicly addressed this.
Today, though we finally hear from Council President Evan Glass. He messages that he is “deeply disturbed” by “acts of terror” and “being sickened” and “that this is now personal.”
Why?
Because someone vandalized a yard sign.
Any act of vandalism should be discouraged in this county. It is wrong. But do you know what is more wrong? Staying silent while crime has infested our community.
Why might you ask is he messaging about this? Well because Evan has set up a new anti-hate task force. Not a task force to provide safety for kids in Germantown. Not a task force to look at harsher sentences for perpetrators. Not a task force that stops drug violence. No. A task force that fields complaints from the community around acts of hate. Like graffati. Like nasty notes.
Let’s be real. The actual terror in Montgomery County are people like Evan Glass. It is the elected officials who will ignore their primary responsibility because to not ignore it causes them personal and professional discomfort and harm.
They have made this personal when they caused each of us to now have to tell our kids what to do in a store when there is a bad guy, lock our cars when we run into the convenience store, look behind our shoulder when we are running, worry about drugs that look like candy, and wonder if a date night at Pike and Rose will include gun shots.
They are about to experience a whole new terror….the terror caused by a community that has had enough.
