09/01/2026
We have learned that an anonymous mass text is circulating in an effort to drive residents to tonight’s Slippery Rock Borough Council meeting.
The message identifies specific Borough Council members by name, falsely frames the recent vote against implementing a 287(g) agreement as allowing “criminal illegals” to roam freely through Slippery Rock, and directs recipients’ anger toward those council members. It also includes a graphic bearing the Slippery Rock Borough seal, despite giving no indication that it is an official Borough communication.
Voting against a 287(g) agreement did not—and does not—make Slippery Rock a “sanctuary” that allows “criminal illegals” to “roam our streets.” To our knowledge, there is no publicly available data demonstrating a need for a 287(g) agreement in the Borough or showing that undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes are roaming the Borough or greater Slippery Rock area.
Residents have every right to attend public meetings, disagree with elected officials, and advocate for their beliefs. But targeting individual council members with false and inflammatory claims is not responsible civic engagement. This campaign appears designed to intimidate them, and we cannot allow our community to devolve into that.
We encourage everyone attending tonight’s meeting to remain respectful, reject misinformation, and remember that our council members are our neighbors—even when we disagree with their votes.
We would also like to know who organized, authorized, or paid for this mass-texting campaign; where the sender obtained residents’ cell-phone numbers; and whether the Borough authorized the use of its seal.
As always, the Borough Council meeting begins at 7 p.m. tonight at the Borough Building. See you there.
