Kent County Commissioner Greene blatantly lied about the non-violent action that happened at his home on Saturday in his public statement

On Sunday, I posted a story about the action that Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE organized at the home of the Chair of the Kent County Commission Ben Greene.

I would encourage you all to read my account, which you can read here, since I was a participant in that action. In fact, it is essential that people read this account first or watch the video that Movimiento Cosecha posted that includes the entire action, which you can find here.

On his Facebook page, Kent County Commissioner Ben Greene posted the statement here below, along with this sentence – On Saturday, radical immigration protesters came to my home.

It’s always convenient for politicians to demonize and exaggerate what community members do. In fact, it is intentional to engage in misinformation and refer to community members a “radical immigration protesters”, which plays well with Greene’s base of support and his major funders, including Dan, Doug and Dick DeVos, which contributed $1,225.00 each to his 2024 election.

Here are a few responses I have to the lies and misrepresentation of the action that took place at his home on Saturday.

First, when Greene says that his young children were there, we knew that since they looked out the window while we were there and waved at us. Several of the people who were there waved back. In addition, there were two dogs in the house, both of which also came to the window at the front of the house. Both dogs just stood there and looked at us, but never barked.

Second, Commissioner Greene claims that he has already laid out his position on sanctuary county status and that it is outside of the commission’s authority. This statement is rife with misinformation. Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE has never asked the county to become a sanctuary. These two groups have been demanding sanctuary policies, which are in effect public safety policies that would prevent the county from cooperating or collaborating with ICE in any way. All six of these demands are completely with the commission’s authority, since local governments throughout the US have adopted some form of a sanctuary policy.

Third, Commissioner Greene then says, “There is nothing left to protest – the answer is no.” This is instructive in that he is either oblivious to the fact that virtually every civil right in the US was because people organized and pushed politicians to adopt their demands. It is never “over” unless the people determine otherwise.

Fourth, Greene engages in more deceitful language by claiming that a “mob came to his front door.” A standard definition of the word mob is – a large crowd of people, especially one that is disorderly and intent on causing trouble or violence. Only three people came to his door, which would numerically not qualify as a mob. Only one person knocked on the door and handed him a piece of paper and spoke to him is a respectful tone. As for the other people who were standing on the sidewalk, they were chanting thinks like, No Hate, No Fear, Immigrants are welcome here! Not exactly mob-like discourse, rather discourse they centered the demands that Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have been asking of Commissioner Greene over the past 14 months.

Lastly, Commissioner Greene tries to make the point that his family is off limits. The action on Saturday was non-violent, was non-threatening and was lawful. Instead of chastising those that took part Commissioner Greene could have used the opportunity to educate his children on what democracy actually looks like and how ICE operates. Greene could have told his children that ICE is violent and forcibly removes people from their homes, thus separating families, by sending immigrants to detention facilities and possibly deportation. Commissioner Greene could have been honest with his children by saying that those who came to their house were attempting to get him to adopt policies that would reduce family separation and family trauma.

Instead, the Chair of the Kent County Commission made the decision to put out a statement that is not only untrue, but it is misleading and communicates to the community that he is unwilling to adopt policies that would reduce the harm that ICE is inflicting in Kent County on immigrant communities.