MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Democrats in West Virginian’s Second Congressional District are planning what they call a “Day of Response” to protest Congressman Riley Moore’s recent trip to El Salvador and a photo of him on his social media showing the freshman congressman holding two thumbs up in front of prisoners at the CECOT prison that is housing El Salvadoran citizens deported by the Trump administration.
Calling Moore’s social media post “barbaric, inhumane, and disgusting,” Democrat organizers in the district are encouraging protesters to call the congressman’s offices and e-mail him on Friday.
“As Americans we shouldn’t be funding our elected officials to visit an American detention center on international soil for a photo-op,” Democrats of Jefferson County WV said on a social media event page. “Neither should we turn a blind eye to the fact that innocent, law abiding individuals are being held in dangerous, inhumane conditions. Further, even those accused of crimes deserve due process and safe living conditions.”
In Wednesday’s social media post that is drawing sharp criticism, Rep. Moore said, “This maximum security facility houses the country’s most brutal criminals, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and terrorists. Several inmates were extremely violent criminals recently deported from the U.S. I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland.”
Monongalia County Democrats are encouraging their members to “call Rep. Riley Moore’s office and ask why our congressman will not have a town hall in his own district but will travel to El Salvador to tour a facility holding prisoners without due process.”
Morgan County Democrats added, “Yes, criminals have been sent to this facility, but so, too, have innocent, law abiding individuals” which they say have no criminal record and may have been granted protected status during the previous administration.
Top Trump immigration officials say those who are in the country illegally have by definition committed a crime.
However, longtime West Virginia Democratic consultant Mike Plante said 29 year old Abrego Garcia is just one example of an innocent citizen living in the U.S. legally who has been wrongfully deported and taken to this prison.
“They didn’t have the authority to arrest him, it was admitted that he was arrested in error, you had the Supreme Court nine to zero vote to say the administration needs to facilitate his return,” Plante said.
Plante said this is just a pathetic attempt for Congressman Moore to emphasize his loyalty to the Trump Administration.
“This is so performatory that it’s just disgusting.”