On Tuesday morning, while Washington County Commissioners conduct business inside 100 W. Washington Street, something just as important will be happening outside.
At 9:00 AM, community members will gather on the sidewalk to do what they’ve increasingly been denied the opportunity to do inside: be heard.
Organized by Washington County Indivisible and supported by Hagerstown Rapid Response, the event will feature the public reading of a Citizens’ Resolution addressing the County Commissioners’ handling of the proposed ICE detention facility in the Hagerstown area. After the reading, residents will be invited to sign the resolution on-site - yes, literally. Sharpies will be provided.
👉 Read the full resolution here:
https://www.wcindivisible.com/uploads/1/4/1/0/141083230/resolution_wci_2.pdf
A Pattern of Silence Inside
For months, residents have shown up to commissioner meetings asking basic questions:
- When did local officials know about the ICE warehouse?
- What agreements, if any, exist with federal agencies?
- What are the health, infrastructure, and community impacts?
And for months, those questions have been met with evasion, delays, or outright shutdowns of public comment.
If You Close the Room, the Street Becomes the Room
What’s happening Tuesday morning is not just a protest. It’s a workaround. A correction. A reminder.
If residents can’t meaningfully participate inside the building, they’ll create their own forum outside of it.
The Citizens’ Resolution is more than symbolic - it’s a documented, collective statement of concern about transparency, accountability, and the direction of Washington County leadership. And by signing it publicly, residents are doing something the commissioners have failed to facilitate: putting the will of the community on record.
At times, microphones have been cut. Community leaders have been removed. Public participation - the cornerstone of local democracy - has been treated as an inconvenience.
So the community adapted.
This Isn’t Going Away
The proposed ICE detention facility has already drawn national attention, weekly protests, and growing concern from healthcare professionals, advocates, and residents across the political spectrum.
What’s happening in Hagerstown is part of a larger story unfolding across the country: communities being asked to absorb massive federal detention infrastructure - with little notice, limited input, and even less transparency.
But Hagerstown is also becoming something else: a case study in what happens when a community refuses to stay quiet.
What to Know
📍 Location: 100 W. Washington St., Hagerstown, MD
🕤 Time: 9:00 AM, Tuesday, March 24
✍️ What’s happening: Public reading of the Citizens’ Resolution + community signing
🖊️ Yes, Sharpies will be provided
The Bottom Line
They may control the agenda inside the room.
But outside, the public still has a voice - and Tuesday, we plan to use it.