A protest was held outside Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale’s home in Plymouth Meeting. Gale lives at the home with his parents.

The protest was in response to Gale’s statement about Black Lives Matter in which he referred to the movement as one of the “radical left-wing hate groups” leading the looting and rioting in Philadelphia and across the country.

The protest had 250 to 300 participants. When we arrived there were only about 50 people in front of Gale’s home, but a portion of the protesters marched from the Plymouth Meeting Mall to the residence.

One thing that was clear from the protest is that this isn’t a one-time thing. The plan is to keep sustained pressure on Gale to resign. It wasn’t clear whether that meant additional protests at his home or other locations.

The Plymouth Township Police Department had three or four officers on Gale’s property and the front side of the home was barricaded. Both ends of the road the home is on were also closed with a police presence. Additional officers were located out on Germantown Pike. One of the organizers of the protest praised working with Lieutenant Jeffrey O’Brien. The organizer relayed that O’Brien expressed his and the department’s desire to keep the protesters safe.

It is believed that Gale and his family were not at home during the time of the protest. While we were there (3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.) the protest was well organized and peaceful.

The video below includes snippets from various portions of the protest. There are also a few photos.