Hagerstown ICE Protest Forces Commissioners to Blink and Delay Riot Gear Vote
Washington County Commissioners quickly discovered that voting on riot gear in the middle of a growing anti-ICE protest movement was not such a great look.
As peaceful protests over the proposed Hagerstown-area ICE facility continued to build, everything came to a head this weekend when thousands of people showed up for Saturday’s No Kings rally in Hagerstown. The turnout made one thing unmistakably clear: this community is not going to be silent.
The No Kings, No Camps campaign echoed across Maryland at multiple rallies, raising awareness about the 825,000-square-foot Washington County warehouse being converted into an ICE detention facility and our fight to stop Indeed and other job sites from profiting from its staffing.
The Weekly Protests Are Not Letting Up
This momentum did not begin on Saturday, and it will not end there.
For weeks, we have been showing up outside the Washington County Commissioners’ meetings every Tuesday morning at 100 W. Washington Street, standing in visible and sustained opposition to the proposed ICE detention facility and the lack of transparency surrounding it.
In partnership with Washington County Indivisible, we have used these weekly actions to keep public pressure on the Commissioners, force local media attention, and ensure that every vote tied to this facility is met with public scrutiny. Every week, we have returned with signs, speakers, residents, physicians, faith leaders, and neighbors who refuse to let this project move forward in silence.
This week’s protest centered on what may be one of the most urgent warnings yet: a letter signed by 50 local doctors outlining the serious health consequences the facility could bring if it opens.
That letter made clear that the risks do not stop at the fence line. It warned of the dangers posed not only to detainees, but also to facility employees, emergency services, and the broader Hagerstown and Washington County community. The doctors raised alarms about overcrowding, infectious disease spread, strain on local healthcare systems, and the consequences of converting an industrial warehouse built for packages, not people, into a detention center.
That public health warning became the central focus of this week’s protest.
We rallied around the message that this is not just an immigration issue or a transparency issue. It is a community health issue. The consequences of opening this facility would be felt by every resident, every nearby neighborhood, and every hospital and medical worker in the region.
Washington County Commissioners Delay Vote on Buying Riot Gear
Less than 24 hours before the weekly commissioners meeting, a Hagerstown Rapid Response member discovered a curious agenda item on the schedule: a vote to purchase $94,000 worth of riot gear for local law enforcement. Coming on the heels of one of the largest local demonstrations we have seen, it felt like a direct response to the momentum we have been building.
But we did what we always do: we organized.
We mobilized our 500+ person Signal group to attend the Tuesday protest outside the Washington County Commissioners meeting. And people were watching. Multiple Washington, D.C. and Baltimore TV news crews were on the ground, along with several national media outlets covering the event, bringing even more visibility to what is happening here in Washington County.
Then came the result: the Commissioners caved and delayed the vote on purchasing the riot gear.
That did not happen because they suddenly changed their minds. It happened because the community showed up, stayed loud, and refused to back down.
When we fight back, we win.
This is exactly why we keep organizing, keep protesting, and keep growing this movement week after week.
The delayed riot gear vote is not happening in a vacuum. It comes after weeks of organized pressure, sustained Tuesday protests, and a weekend rally that brought thousands into the streets.
This is what accountability looks like.
When we keep showing up, they are forced to respond.