During a recent appearance in court, Massachusetts Mayor Brian DePena asked for a translator in order to participate in a Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission proceeding, due to being unable to speak fluent English. The hearing was centered around former Lawrence Police Chief William Castro, who is also a close ally of DePena, had his credentials stripped after what was deemed an improper police chase.
Castro was accused of driving the wrong way down a city street as the chase unfolded and for later filing a false report that claimed he was responding to an armed bank robbery. In reality, he was responding to someone who attempted to cash a bad check. DePena offered testimony on his friend’s behalf during the proceeding, but what’s making the rounds on social media is his request for a translator.
The original request was for DePena’s personal assistant to serve as his translator, however, the judge declined, saying that statements interpreted privately couldn’t be verified independently. Neither the judge presiding over the case, nor the opposing counsel, speaks Spanish; the court feared that statements made by DePena could be mistranslated, which cold impact testimony and influence responses or potentially distort the official court record of the hearing.
“The division has a concern, has raised an objection, based on the fact that council, much like me and much like the hearing officer, don’t speak Spanish,” the judge said during the hearing. He then added, “Therefore, we’re unable to decide independently whether questions are being translated both directions from the witness accurately.”
According to The Post Millennial, the situation caused a firestorm across social media, with many making the case that elected officials should be able to communicate in English during legal proceedings that deal with the duties of their office. As of this writing, the state of Massachusetts does not require elected officials to be fluent in English.
One commenter on a video clip of the incident being shared on social media platform X shared a screenshot from the assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk that said, “Immigration without assimilation is an invasion.” Another pointed out, “The USA has to make English the official language.” Another user said, “If you can’t speak English, you shouldn’t even be eligible for US citizenship, much less public office. This guy isn’t even a real American.”
That same user then included a quote from President Teddy Roosevelt who said, “We have room but for one flag, the American flag. We have room but for one language here, and that is the English language, and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
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Another commenter called for DePena to be removed from office, saying, “He should be removed from office. If he can’t even speak the language. Should be a basic test of competence to be an elected official.” Someone else wrote, “Biggest enemy we have is anyone who thinks this guy is an American.”
DePena hails from the Dominican Republic. He first immigrated to New York in the early 1980s, before moving to Lawrence, Massachusetts. The report then revealed that, according to the U.S. Census, over 80% of the city’s population is Hispanic.
Featured image: screenshot from embedded video