The Waterkooler

Local Washington DC talk show host, Michael Graham of WMAL, was detained in Maryland Monday at an REAL ID protest rally. The rally was attended by hundreds of illegal immigrants and advertised in the Washington Post yet Graham was detained for not having proper identification and told that he was "not invited" to the event.

Michael showed his ABC press pass when confronted at the gate where he was then asked for addition identification. The confrontation led to Michael being detained by the organizers of the event and local police, who said they were there to protect the illegal aliens at the event.

Oganizers say Graham was detained because he was wearing a black T-shirt with the letter INS printed on them. Michael says he was merely making a "political statement at a political rally." He says he was protesting the fact that there were no federal immigration officials at the event to deport the hundreds of illegal aliens there.

Maryland is one of 10 states that issues licenses even if applicants don't prove they are legal residents. Speakers at the event told the illegal aliens in attendance that the time had come to "take the law into their own hands." Although they are not citizens, the illegals claimed that the US government has to answer to them.

Montgomery County police are investigating whether or not to press charges on Michael for inciting violence at a public event.

Meanwhile, on his talk radio show, Michael has been playing audio that he recorded from the event in which men with megaphones were chanting "No licence, no justice; no justice, no peace! No licence, no justice; no justice, no peace!"

It was one of few statements spoken in English, thanks to Spanish to English flyers that were being handed out at the event.

No one is investigating whether or not the police should arrest the hundreds of other federal criminals who were unlawfully present in the country.

Security people stopped Graham and asked for identification.
"Funny for them to ask me for ID," he tells me.
He flashed his ABC credentials and tried to walk in. They jumped him. A struggle ensued. Someone alerted the police officers standing nearby. "Finally," Graham figured, "they're going to pull these illegals off of me." But no. They took him into custody and asked him to leave.

"Makes sense, actually," he says, "if you consider the whack jobs who run the Montgomery County Police."
Monday morning he made verbal mincemeat of the county, the cops and CASA, the group that organized the rally, which he referred to as a front group for illegal aliens. Actually, CASA is a well-respected advocacy group for immigrants of all kinds. They are known, for instance, for rescuing enslaved domestic workers.

Everything was going according to script until the Montgomery County police went to extremes. Lt. Eric Burnett told Graham's boss, WMAL president Chris Berry, that police were planning to "file a complaint against Graham."

I asked Burnett about the charges. Failure to shut up?
"Graham was acting unprofessional as a reporter," Burnett said.
But as Chris Berry says, Michael Graham is an entertainer, not a reporter. The cops did their job on Sunday. Now they are just giving Graham more material.

Make his day:
Arrest him.