NEW BERLIN, Wis. — New Berlin Mayor Dave Ament is under fire over some anti-Islamic messages he posted on his personal Facebook page.
Tuesday night, the New Berlin City Council passed a resolution at its meeting acknowledging and condemning the posts, saying they do not represent the city.
People packed Tuesday night’s city council meeting in New Berlin where the mayor publicly apologized.
“I take full responsibility for sharing them,” said New Berlin Mayor Ament. “I unfortunately did not take into account how these inappropriate posts could be insulting or offensive and hurtful, and I should have.”
He then left, saying it was a conflict of interest for him to stay.
The posts said things like, ‘If you vote for a Muslim for elected office in this country, you are a traitor;’ and another starting with, ‘Muslims offered the same deal in every century: convert, pay, or die.’
The Muslim Women’s Coalition said they were the first group to be made aware of this by the community.
Janan Najeb, the founder said, this behavior shouldn’t be accepted to begin with and they’re concerned for the people of New Berlin.
“It’s hard to believe that you have a sitting mayor with a public Facebook page that is promoting such hatred not once or twice, but this is ongoing over months and months, and no one in the common council flagged it,” said Najeb. “No one noticed it?”
At the meeting, roughly 15 people spoke their minds. Some expressed their support for the mayor.
“Islam is not a religion. It is not a race,” said one speaker. “Therefore, those posts can not be racist or Islamaphobic. Islam is a political and economic ideology centered on oppression. Particularly of women and homosexuals.”
Some shared their disappointment.
“I’ve known the mayor a long time,” said another speaker. “I’m very disappointed. Actually, disappointed is an understatement. Not only in his actions but the fact that he’s not in this room tonight to listen to all of this.”
A number of different faith-based organizations were also there, calling for the mayor to resign.
Fauzia Qureshi, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance, also came to the meeting. She said she was disgusted by the posts. She’s worried the posts could spark violence in the community.
“An elected official and anybody sitting in office should be responsible for who they’re serving,” said Qureshi. “Somebody who is a sitting mayor, somebody who is sitting elected official, should not be spewing this type of hatred.”
Others were disappointed that the mayor didn’t stay to hear what people had to say.
“If the mayor was sitting, I would say, ‘Mr. Mayor, if you have any concern for our city, you should apologize.’ Which he has done,” said Ahmed Quereshi, Executive Director of Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. “I recognize that. But then I would say, ‘Mr. Mayor, you should resign so that the city can move forward.”
The mayor has not said whether he plans to resign. Ament said he would take some time to reflect and step back from social media.