Greene County Sheriff’s Department postpones Hispanic Community meeting after negative reactions

A message posted on the Greeneville Police Department’s social media account said their Hispanic Community meeting scheduled for March 25th has been postponed due to the negativity expressed against the agency and the Facebook post announcing the event.

The statement posted Wednesday said the blowback has shown the department that there is work to be done in building relationships with the community that allows anyone to feel safe to attend a public meeting.

More than 1,300 comments were received by the original post with some calling the event a ploy to work with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement or ICE in rounding up alleged undocumented residents.

In an interview with WATE in January, Sheriff Wesley Holt said his department works under federal guidelines to place a hold on immigrants arrested for criminal violations and then refer their case to ICE.

(IMAGE: File Photo from archives)