"Citizens Against Sanctuary Cities" meeting, Wednesday 7/12

[ron_newman]

The Somerville Republican City Committee (really, that's a thing?) has scheduled a "Citizens Against Sanctuary Cities" meeting for Wednesday, July 12, at 6 pm at the Somerville main library.

The organizers keep hiding and then re-showing the guest list. The last time it was visible, many of the people attending it or interested in it were people I know who are definitely not on their side.

Comments

[irilyth]

I feel like Facebook often shows me as "attending" an event just because someone invited me, or some other Facebook nonsense ("told Facebook I might be interested", who knows).

I wonder if the organizers are hoping the meeting will include some discussion with people who disagree with them.

[dtremit]

Looking at the library's calendar, it appears that this is the quarterly meeting of the Somerville Republican City Committee.

Given that the library maintains an excellent list of immigration resources, I suspect there is someone on staff who could tell us whether the meeting is open to the general public, and whether there will be any specific accommodation made for protesters.

[ron_newman]

I assume the meeting is public, since the Facebook event is public.

[siderea]

FB question: the post I see says "public" on it. Is that an indication level of the visibility of the invite (like the lock icon or lack thereof on DW posts) or does that mean somebody indicated the event is public?

[ron_newman]

The Facebook event page is publicly readable (including by people like you who are not Facebook members), which means that the public is invited to the event. It is also possible to create "Private" Facebook events, which are visible only to the people who have been specifically invited.

[siderea]

Yeah, I know. That doesn't answer what I asked. I'm asking what the word "public" appearing on a FB event post means.

[ron_newman]

I don't think I'm understanding the distinction you are making. If I create an event as Public, it's visible to everyone including non-members of Facebook. Anyone can attend such an event, though not necessarily for free -- just as if I'd published a notice in the Somerville Journal or Boston Globe.

"a healthy republic". Ha. Remember that?

[jadelennox]

Multiple points of view make for a healthy republic, and I support the presence of people I disagree with and their right to use public spaces. In theory. In practice, I find myself hoping to god that they won't say hateful things about Somerville residents in the presence of those Somerville residents.

And when I went looking for my librarian icons and realized this was the first one on ky list, the bitter irony was a little overwhelming.

Re: "a healthy republic". Ha. Remember that?

[teko]

I am 100% in favor of these folks holding a peaceful meeting to discuss their dissenting views on sanctuary cities, but I am definitely not in favor of them being secretive about it or pretending that large numbers of people are attending who aren't.