Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Calls continue for Gale’s ouster
A coalition of state legislators, clergy and members of social justice groups denounced racial injustice and continued their calls for the resignation or impeachment of Montgomery County Commissioner Joseph C. Gale for comments he made about the Black Lives Matter Movement.
“We demand that Black lives matter. We say Black lives have to matter,” state Rep. Joe Webster, D-150th Dist., said Thursday as he called upon county residents and his colleagues to support his resolution to impeach Gale for comments that Gale made on June
1, during which Gale compared the Black Lives Matter group to “far-left radical enemy combatants.”
In a memo supporting the impeachment resolution, Webster maintained Gale’s comments promoted racist conspiracy theories, disparaged the county seal and demonstrated contempt for the constituents he swore to serve.
House Resolution 920 calling for Gale’s impeachment has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee but Webster acknowledged that he doesn’t have “a lot of hope” that the Republican chairman of the committee will move the bill forward.
“What I hope for is that we raised the issue. We made it very obvious and prevalent. It’s not going away,” Webster said at a news conference held in a meeting room at the West Norriton Township building. “This message will continue. It will bubble up in other parts of the county and the pressure is real. Eventually, Mr. Gale has to deal with his constituents.”
Webster characterized Gale’s comments as “utterly inappropriate.”
“Imagine not understanding this historic moment for our country. Imagine not understanding your position as a commissioner, representing 830,000 people in Montgomery County, 80,000 of who are people of color,” Webster said.
Webster said Gale’s comments are “symptoms of something much larger, something more deeply ingrained in our society and in our institutions.”
“These are systemic issues that we have to deal with on a larger scale, like voter suppression, like the inequality of schools and school funding, like mass incarceration, justice issues…,” said Webster, whose district includes Collegeville, Lower Providence, Skippack and parts of Upper Providence and West Norriton.
In a June 1 statement entitled “Riots & Looting In Philadelphia,” issued on letterhead bearing the seal of Montgomery County and under Gale’s official title as commissioner, Gale compared the Black Lives Matter group to “far-left radical enemy combatants” and a “radical left-wing hate group.”
Gale’s statement came in the wake of protests that erupted after the death of a handcuffed African-American man, George Floyd, while in the custody of Minneapolis Police.
Gale, of Plymouth, the lone Republican on the three-member county commissioners’ board, has refused to step down and has said he will not be “bullied” for exercising his First Amendment rights.
Gale said the Democratic state legislators “leading the insidious stunt to impeach me should instead be focusing their energy and efforts on helping the millions of Pennsylvania workers, families and schoolchildren adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.”
“The radical left is offended that I spoke the truth about the violent rioting and looting that took place in Philadelphia and I continue to stand by my original statement condemning this criminal behavior,” Gale responded on Thursday.
“Ironically, the Democrat politicians who stand with these radical leftists are using their First Amendment freedom of speech in an attempt to silence my same constitutional right. Such hypocrisy is outrageous,” Gale added. “I will not be bullied or shamed by anarchists, agitators and political opportunists who try to destroy private citizens and elected officials like me for expressing ideas and opinions that disagree with their Marxist agenda.”
State Rep. Patty Kim, D103rd Dist., traveled from Harrisburg and said she is a “proud co-sponsor” of Webster’s “bold” impeachment resolution.
“I call you unfit for office. If you don’t resign, and when House Resolution 920 comes up, I will proudly vote for it to pass,” Kim addressed Gale directly during her remarks at the news conference.
Rep. Margo Davidson, D164th Dist., which includes parts of Upper Darby Township, condemned what she called Gale’s “tone deaf and offensive words.” Davidson said Gale sought to demonize a nationwide movement that seeks to uphold the great ideals upon which the country was founded.
“I want to say this as plainly as I can — all lives can only matter only when and if, and not until, Black lives matter,” said Davidson, adding Black Lives Matter is a growing international movement that has peaceful protests as its core activity and seeks to highlight disparities and inequities in the criminal justice system and to shine a spotlight on institutional racism.
“Why would any public official stand in the way of equality, stand against the quest for human rights? Commissioner Gale’s comments are a threat to real democracy,” added Davidson, who questioned Gale’s ability to lead. “Commissioner Gale, we want to say to you today that the old dog whistles are no longer acceptable and the only redeemable course of action you can take is to resign before you are removed from office one way or another.”
The Rev. Cean James, associate conference minister for Pennsylvania Southeast Conference United Church of Christ, said Gale’s comments came a week after Floyd’s death, “basically taking what was already a painful situation and throwing salt, literally, into our wound.” James accused Gale of using his position, while receiving public funds, “to destroy and to diminish the lives of so many other people.”
“Anyone who has the power to remove Joe Gale from office, but is not actively working to do so, stands in support of everything that Joe Gale stands for,” James said. “If you’re a Republican leader of our state, in the House or Senate, and you are not actively working to remove Joe Gale from office, then I will consider your inaction that you support his statements and that you support his brand of racism that is designed to keep foots on the necks of our people.”
Stephen Kinsey, chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, expressed support for Webster’s resolution.
“It’s truly unfortunate that a duly elected official here in Montgomery County has taken to task a blatant disregard for rights provided in our Constitution. It’s truly unfortunate that this elected official has attempted to further divide the good people of Montgomery County…especially at a time when we as a people, we as a commonwealth and we as a nation more than ever before need to come together regardless of our differences,” Kinsey said.
Carmina Taylor, a lifelong community activist and member of PA Women Rise, a local social justice organization that co-sponsored Thursday’s event, challenged Gale’s claim that his comments are protected by the First Amendment.
“Hate propaganda, derogatory statements and most importantly, false statements, against a person, people or a racial group, are not constitutional rights. We are here to denounce Joe Gale’s hateful statements about Black Lives Matter and about the Black women in America. We will fight racial injustice in Pennsylvania but our first stop is right here in Montgomery County,” Taylor said.
Taylor also urged residents to support a resolution introduced in June by state Sen. Daylin Leach, D17th Dist., calling for a special committee to investigate whether Gale’s statements violate the law, ethics rules, or policies under the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Taylor announced the launch of The Movement for Black and Brown Lives in Montgomery County, a social justice group that will hold elected officials accountable for the marginalization of people of color in the county. Veronica Moeller, of Souderton, and Chris Jaramillo, of East Norriton, are leading the organization.
“Systemic racism is a global issue. Montgomery County is not immune,” Jaramillo said.
The news conference also included statements by Jody Ann Campbell, a Norristown High School graduate and member of Norristown Young Scholars, and Dong Yoon Kim, of the Woori Center, a network of Korean Americans in greater Philadelphia whose mission is to organize Korean and Asian Americans toward social, racial and economic justice.
“We cannot stay on the sidelines. We cannot stay silent. It’s now more clear than ever to be louder, to be visible and to stand in solidarity with our black and brown family,” Kim said.