Beltway Area Indymedia

Today, Tuesday, July 30th, the immigrant community of Prince William County announced their response to the racist, anti-immigrant law passed by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors on July 10, 2007. Determined to force the Board of Supervisor's to rescind the xenophobic, unconstitutional legislation, which would deny county services to those who could not prove their legal status, and force county police to check the immigration status of anyone detained, representatives from the immigrant community today announced their plan to move forward Today's announcement came after a series of community meetings, drawing more than 3,500 people, in which the voices of the immigrant community were heard.

As of Thursday, July 12, a DC grand jury has yet to return an indictment for the armed anti-immigrant member of the Herndon Minutemen, Tyler Froatz.

I had the pleasure, and displeasure, yesterday of attending the hearing at which the Prince William County (Virginia) Board of Supervisors passed one of the most draconian, anti-immigrant pieces of legislation on the books to date in the United States. The pleasure lay in seeing people stand up for their humanity, and what is right. The displeasure lay in seeing the anti-immigrant sentiment, whipped up by the powerful elite, exert its influence on the Board of Supervisors.

Today, Wednesday, June 20, the heavily armed, anti-immigrant member of the Herndon Minutemen, Tyler Froatz Jr. was ordered to be released into the custody of his parents, Tyler and Jeanne Froatz (of Wayne, NJ), by DC Superior Court Judge James Boasberg. Mr. Froatz had previously been ordered to be held in the DC Jail, pending today's hearing, after being arrested at an immigrant rights rally on May 1st for assault, and for carrying a dangerous weapon (weapons found on Mr. Froatz that day included a stun gun, a claw hammer, a molotov cocktail, and a (converted) fully automatic M1 carbine rifle).