Maryland prosecutors drop false rape charges against immigrant boys witch-hunted by Trump
By
Eric London
6 May 2017
The decision by Maryland prosecutors to drop charges against two immigrant youth charged with raping a classmate exposes the Trump administration’s efforts to whip up a violent anti-immigrant hysteria to advance his plans for mass deportation.
According to the Washington Post, Montgomery County prosecutors dropped the charges because they uncovered evidence proving the alleged victim was not telling the truth.
“The original charges cannot be sustained and prosecution is untenable” because of “substantial inconsistencies,” a prosecutor said.
In March, 18-year-old Henry Sanchez Milian and 17-year-old Jose Montano—both undocumented immigrants—were arrested after a 14-year-old classmate told police and school officials the two boys pushed her into a bathroom, forced her to undress, and assaulted her. Prosecutors announced they would seek life sentences for the two boys, and Montano, a minor, would be tried as an adult. A judge ordered that both be held without bail, ruling that they were “dangerous” and “flight risks.”
Shortly after the boys were charged, officials published details of the young men’s lives, including the fact that they were living in the US without documentation.
The Trump administration threw the full weight of the state against the two boys, amplifying their case as proof that immigrants are “rapists” and “criminals,” as Trump previously claimed.
Just days after their arrest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers targeted and arrested Montano’s 43-year-old father, Adolfo Sanchez-Reyes, placed him into deportation proceedings, and locked him up in an immigrant detention center.
Press Secretary Sean…