The mayor of New Berlin, Wisconsin, Dave Ament, is under heavy fire for sharing a copious amount of egregiously blatant Islamophobic, racist, and misogynistic posts on Facebook. Ament shared memes and videos calling for the banning of Muslims and mosques, saying that anyone who voted for a Muslim is a traitor, and spreading easily debunked claims about “Muslim invaders.” In one AI video he shared, it portrayed a woman draping bacon on a door handle, saying that it worked to keep both Muslims and Jews from breaking in.
As bad as all that is, Ament made things exponentially worse by trying to excuse it as being in the public interest, per his non-apologetic statement:
I have been made aware of comments that have been expressed regarding posts on my private Facebook page. Let me begin by saying that what is on my personal Facebook page does not represent the official position of the City of New Berlin.
It has never been my intention to disparage or offend any individual or group, including the Muslim Community. My intention was simply to share information on matters of public concern. I regret that it has been construed otherwise. I further want to make it clear that I support the ability of all faith traditions to practice their faith.
I am going to take some time to reflect and step back from social media at this time.
Several faith-based groups are calling for Ament to resign, which he has not done as of Monday, August 24. However, the New Berlin Common Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, August 25. The agenda for that meeting includes “discussion and possible action on a statement regarding Mayor Ament’s recent personal social media posts.”
