Joe Gale Impeachment: PA Women Rise, Lawmakers Holding Rally

Note: this event was postponed due to the inclement weather Thursday morning. A new date has not yet been announced.

NORRISTOWN, PA — Activist groups, community leaders, and state lawmakers are gathering supporters together at a rally in Norristown Thursday in support of the impeachment of Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale.

Motions have been introduced in the Pennsylvania State House and State Senate to impeach Gale over a letter he published in the wake of the death of George Floyd. In the letter, he called Black Lives Matter a hate group that had manufactured claims of racial injustice.

The event is being organized by PA Women Rise, a group which aims to fight for racial justice in Montgomery County. It was founded by five local women who organized large protests in Norristown following Gale's remarks.

"PA Women Rise contends that Commissioner Joseph Gale has continually focused on regional
and national rhetoric as it relates to the Black community but has done nothing to support the
racial justice issues plaguing the Black and Brown residents of his own constituency in
Montgomery County--a systemic problem in which 80,000 people of color in Montco are ignored
and overlooked," organizers said.

Gale has declined to walk back his comments in the face of the controversy, and has chosen to double-down.

"Democrats have turned 2020 into the twilight zone," he wrote recently on Facebook. "In their twisted minds, violent criminals are let off the hook without punishment, while conservatives like myself are threatened with impeachment for speaking the truth about rioting, looting and arson."

While House Resolution 920 and Senate Resolution 334 have been introduced, they have not yet been put on the floor to start proceedings. Thursday's rally aims specifically to petition the Speaker of the House and Senate President to do so.

Gale is also facing a lawsuit which alleges he blocked social media posts on his Facebook page. The suit alleges he violated the 1st amendment rights of the residents in blocking them. It's believed to be the first suit of its kind.

Montgomery County's State Rep. Joe Webster, who first introduced impeachment proceedings against Gale, will be joined by State Rep. Stephen Kinsey, the chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, at the event.

The event will take place at 10 a.m. on the Montgomery County Courthouse steps. PA Women Rise will hold a Facebook Live of the event here.

State Sen. Vincent Hughes, the NAACP of Norristown, Young Scholars, and Clergy of Montgomery County will also be in attendance, Webster's office said.