Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, a Democrat, exploded during a press conference on Friday after he was asked why local officials were trying to hide the fact that a teenager who was arrested for allegedly plotting school shootings was transgender.
The thwarted shooter, an 18-year-old woman from Rockville who identifies as a man, was arrested on Wednesday by the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD), the county said in a news release, adding that the FBI notified the MCPD about a 129-page “manifesto” in which the teenager wrote about committing a school shooting, contemplated targeting an elementary school, and more.
“What is the reluctance of the county to admit that this individual was transgender?” an individual asked Elrich at the press conference. “This is the fourth time that we’ve seen this happen very recently. And right here I hear all of our leadership saying to us today, and what we do in journalism here, what we try not do is bury the lede. Why am I hearing about this from the New York Post?”
“Because it’s not a lede,” Elrich responded. “You know, how do you publicize every time somebody gets murdered that it’s a white Christian male, who’s heterosexual? No, you don’t, you don’t– are these the only crimes that get committed? You never publish somebody’s sexual orientation when you talk about them.”
“Why are you focused on it being a transgender is beyond me,” he claimed. “It is not a news story. It is not a crime to be transgender. And I’m sorry you feel that way.”
The individual who asked the question fired back: “That’s not what I said.”
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