‘He is unfit to lead’: New Berlin mayor under fire after anti-Muslim Facebook posts
Mayor Dave Ament changed his personal Facebook account from public to private Friday night
NEW BERLIN, Wis. —
New Berlin Mayor Dave Ament is under scrutiny after anti-Muslim posts on his personal Facebook page were discovered, leading to calls for his resignation from a Muslim advocacy group.
The posts, which included several anti-Muslim videos, were shared publicly on Ament’s Facebook page before it was made private late Friday night. Some of the posts dated back months, while others were shared as recently as the past two weeks. One post, shared on Aug. 7, featured a young woman with a message that read, “If you voted for a Muslim for elected office in this country, you are a traitor.”
Fatima Malik, a representative of the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance, condemned the posts and called for Ament to step down.
“This is just completely wrong and out of line,” Malik said.
The advocacy group is demanding an apology from Ament and urging him to resign, citing concerns about his ability to lead.
“I mean, how can we trust someone who is using dehumanizing language about a whole entire faith group and lumping them into one? It just shows that he is unfit to lead,” Malik said.
12 News made multiple attempts to reach Ament for comment on Friday. At city hall, his assistant said he had left for the day, and he did not respond when reporters visited his home.
“He has a lot of Muslim constituents in New Berlin, and this really hurt them and caused fear in them,” Malik said. “So I hope he takes accountability for his actions, realizes what he did was wrong, and ultimately steps down.”
District 5 Alderman Joseph Stribl responded to the controversy in a statement, saying, “I do not condone hate speech or discrimination of any kind, including anti-Muslim, antisemitic, anti-Black, or misogynistic rhetoric. They have no place in our community.”
Other members of the New Berlin Common Council were contacted, but most were hearing about the situation for the first time from 12 News.