Immigration debate sparks friction at MLK Day events in Lake Worth Beach
Political signs prompt ROTC cadets to withdraw from parade, spark brief heated clash on Cultural Plaza stage between an event organizer and a city commissioner
The federal immigration debate spilled over into Lake Worth Beach’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations on Monday, creating friction about whether a holiday honoring the late civil rights leader is the appropriate venue to spotlight local residents impacted by ICE raids.
ROTC cadets from Lake Worth Community High School were supposed to lead the downtown parade from City Hall to the Cultural Plaza. They withdrew at the last minute, at the direction of their supervisors who were concerned that signs carried by some parade marchers were too political.
And moments before the start of a commemorative MLK ceremony at the Cultural Plaza, an event organizer used a curse word while shouting at City Commissioner Chris McVoy for holding a sign with an anti-ICE reference as he sat on stage with other commissioners.
Paul Blockson, an MLK Day steering committee member, asked McVoy to leave. McVoy “rudely refused,” Commissioner Anthony Segrich said, and stayed in his seat behind the podium.
“It’s a pretty pathetic way to honor Martin Luther King,’’ McVoy said after Blockson grabbed the sign from his hands, according to videos of the incident.
“You’re right,’’ Blockson replied. “You’re definitely right.’’
You can see part of the exchange in this video:
The friction continued at Tuesday night’s City Commission meeting when Segrich suggested the city offer a public apology to both the ROTC students and the MLK Day organizers for McVoy’s “behavior.”
“Unfortunately they were stripped of an opportunity that comes once a year at a special event and I think it was very selfish and uncalled for,’’ Segrich said during his commissioner comments near the end of the meeting.
“There is a time and a place for everything. That was not the time and place to put another agenda in front of the celebration that was at hand,’’ he said.
At the start of Tuesday’s meeting during public comments, more than 20 people urged city commissioners to do more to support city residents affected by immigration policies.
“Everything about Dr. King was political. He believed in civil disobedience. He believed in nonviolent resistance,’’ Mariana Blanco of the Guatemalan Maya Center told commissioners.
The majority of the city’s 32nd annual MLK Day weekend events focused on Dr. King’s legacy, said Ted Brownstein, an organizer. There were also a few shows of solidarity with the city’s immigrants, including remarks by Blanco and a video at a Saturday breakfast about families affected by immigration raids.
At a singalong Monday on the steps of City Hall before the march, many attendees held signs with MLK quotes: “Injustice Anywhere Is a Threat To Justice Everywhere’’ and “Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.’’
A handful of people held signs directly protesting President Donald Trump and immigration.
Brownstein told the Lake Worth Beach Independent that a few ROTC cadets asked him if they could carry “Injustice Anywhere” and “Love” signs in the parade. He said he gave MLK quote signs to a few students but not anti-ICE signs.
About 10 minutes later, the students’ supervisors returned the signs because “they said it would look like the kids were protesting, and they didn’t want that,’’ Brownstein said.
At some point before the start of the parade, the ROTC supervisors and cadets went home because they felt the march had become too politicized, Segrich said.
Late Tuesday, McVoy pushed back when Segrich blamed him for ruining the ROTC students’ chance to lead the parade. McVoy said he didn’t hand out any signs outside City Hall and he never interacted with the cadets.
“Trying to say, ‘McVoy was the only person with an anti-ICE sign and he told ROTC to go away’ is a gross misrepresentation of reality,’’ he said.
He accused commissioners of being tone deaf about objecting to parade marchers holding signs critical of immigration policies.
“It’s not appropriate to have any political statements at an MLK (event)? What the hell was MLK about?’’ McVoy said. “Martin Luther King was marching in the streets politically to change injustices, and there are major injustices going on in this country including right there in Palm Beach County and Lake Worth.’’
At the cultural plaza on Monday, McVoy walked on stage for the program with an MLK “Injustice Everywhere” sign with a small piece of white paper on a corner with the words: “Dr. MLK: Ice Out.” On the back of that sign was another message: “Trump/NRA kills our kids.”
In the minutes before the start of the program, MLK chair Retha Lowe and Blockson asked McVoy to remove the sign from the stage. They told McVoy the event was supposed to be about community, not politics.
“Really, Chris, what are you trying to do? Just take the white thing off. It’s ridiculous,’’ Mayor Betty Resch said to McVoy, according to a video of the conversation. “You have to show you’re the most astute one. This is about Martin Luther King.’’
“And you don’t think Martin Luther King wouldn’t be speaking out?” he replied.
“Well, he’s not here,’’ Resch said.
McVoy said he was disappointed Blockson told him to remove the sign and that Blockson called him a curse word. (Blockson — whose wife, Carla Blockson, lost to McVoy in the 2021 and 2025 elections —declined to comment for this story.)
“There is no way, I believe, that Martin Luther King wouldn’t be all over what’s going on with ICE and other aspects of the government,’’ McVoy said in an interview Tuesday. “It seems to me the best way to honor somebody who was enough of an activist that he got killed for it is to speak out on stuff that needs speaking out.’’
Some city commissioners, though, felt McVoy’s attempt to display the sign at the podium went too far and overshadowed the event’s celebration of King’s legacy.
“(Segrich) said, ‘You should be embarrassed,’’’ McVoy said. “I said I’m not embarrassed at all. Anybody who should be embarrassed is people who are suppressing activism on Martin Luther King Day.’’
Brownstein said he recalled hearing students at the city’s MLK Day events “talking about Dr. King and his courage and how he stood up against the establishment.’’
But the current political environment is too intimidating for many people to speak out against federal immigration raids, he said.
“There just doesn’t seem to be the courage to stand up to it in a respectful way at the appropriate time and place,’’ he said.
“There are civil rights implications to the current situation, and Dr. King would be very concerned about things that are going on and would try to raise the issue,’’ he said.
This video of Monday’s MLK events shows Blockson and Resch confronting McVoy starting at the 1:36:20 mark:
In my most humble opinion, MLK stood for justice for all and did what he could to protect all Americans from any injustice. It was important that the organizers of the rally honor MLK’s commitment to justice for all through their actions. I wholeheartedly support Commissioner McVoy activism at the MLK rally. By his actions, Mr. McVoy was preserving the honor and legacy of MLK Jr.
People have chosen to celebrate MLK Jr but want to disallow the very thing he worked and gave his life for - do not fight for justice here please.
That does not scan.