On September 16, 2019 local Anti-287 and #NeverChuckJenkins activist Edward Burrell had a letter to the editor published in the Frederick News Post. Mr. Burrell is no stranger to the mounting pressure that he and a few other people are continuing to mount against Sheriff Chuck Jenkins partnership with Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents.
In the letter, Mr. Burrell opened with the following.
“It is good to see our county executive and council step up to conduct an audit on the sheriff’s office’s involvement in the 287(g) program.”
Mr. Burrell was referencing the 287g audit County Executive Gardner announced with bipartisan fanfare on August 5th. Two Republicans, Council-members Steve McKay and Mike Blue stood next to the County Executive Gardner when she delivered the audit announcement.
Mr. Burrell went on to explain his position further by adding that:
“It appears that some supporters of the sheriff feel they must do their best to keep the audit from occurring by either, overstating the value of 287(g) to the community, representing the sheriff’s achievements beyond reality, or by attacking the racial or moral character of all immigrants.”
Mr. Burrell was (in his own words) all in favor of the 287g audit in September. He felt the likelihood of finding dirt on the Sheriff would drastically increase because he actually believed the total hype and innuendo being pushed by a small group of third rate activists. Burrell has continuously insinuated in 2019 that our Sheriff was guilty of wrong doing and that a 3rd party audit would prove it.
As with any attempt to mislead people, adjustments must be made in order to keep the ruse going. The 3rd party audit must be called into question if there is any likelihood that the Sheriff could be absolved of wrong doing. So, like clockwork; Ed Burrell wrote a letter to the editor in the FNP on December 4th. In it, he started blasting the 287g audit before it was finished.
Burrell writes in the FNP on December 4th. “It appears that the county has made a number of possible missteps to taint the audit’s results.”
That’s a classic misdirection. Burrell knows that the 287g audit isn’t going to have the smoking gun that he promised his fellow Bickel Brigade soldiers. This is also giving Kai Hagen and Jessica Fitzwater some political cover.
You know Burrell’s credibility is shot when he tries to justify his empty suggestions of 287g wrongdoing by declaring the following: “Most importantly, there is no concern being expressed by the county beyond costs. There is no recognition of what the effect is on our residents, including our immigrant families.”
Truly amazing. To heck with their original “reasonableness” of the false fiscal concerns. Mr. Burrell is now showing his hateful attitude bent on finding any reason never to be satisfied until our Sheriff is out of Office. He is joined by others who are also declaring in the FNP that “This 287(g) immigration program audit should not be based exclusively on bean counting but rather on program effectiveness and real-world community impact”
As we start the New Year, I hope we can start educating ourselves on what auditing actually consists of doing. Fiscal auditing is bean counting. Mr. Burrell may not like the audit and his fellow anti-287g’ers might not understand how it works but an audit is being conducted per their request.
Burrell led the charge for the audit and now declares it to be flawed. People like Ed Burrell will never be satisfied until they are able to project their own beliefs by force of law onto the rest of us. I can’t wait till the audit is done and these people’s conspiracy theories on corruption in the Sheriff’s Office is debunked once and for all. This activist audit two step needs to stop.
I also hope that Sheriff Jenkins runs for a higher office and wins by a landslide. Depending the geography, the Bickel Brigade, and the rest of the Sheriff haters could do little more than watch and fume as our Sheriff takes his common sense message of law and order to a larger audience.
