A letter by Willmar Human Rights Commission member Ben Larson, Councilman Christianson must resign, has prompted supporter of Ron Christianson to fire off an email asking recipients to defend Christianson at Monday night's council meeting.
Ben Larson writes in Councilman Christianson must resign:
We live in a society that forgets quickly and then moves onto the next issue, many times without a resolution on the last issue. Because of this, let me remind this community what Willmar City Councilman Ron Christianson "liked" on Facebook.
Mr. Christianson "liked" posts that were racist and Islamaphobic in nature. Posts included comments such as, ""illiterate, uneducable people with the average IQ of 68," in regards to Muslims. Regarding Somali people, Mr. Christianson "liked" a post that stated, "Unwanted Somali intruders who are very open about wanting you dead." Last, in reference to Muslim and Mexican immigrants, Mr. Christianson "liked" a post that stated, "Now we are flooded with illiterate Mexicans and Muslims. These people have exceedingly low IQ's and bring diseases, crime and filth into our country."
The statements Mr. Christianson "liked" are odious blatant fearmongering lies. Mr. Christianson now has had ample time and opportunity to address the concerns that many have raised. Instead, he has remained silent That silence, in this case, is deafening.
Our community must now address Mr. Christianson's obvious, abhorrent bias towards Muslim and Mexican immigrants. I've called for him to clear up these concerns or to resign. Now, I call for Mr. Christianson to resign.
In the face of this obstacle, I'm confident the good people of Willmar will find a positive way forward. We must go forward with one voice. I'm calling on all concerned citizens to attend the next City Council meeting on at 7 p.m. Monday at the Willmar Municipal Utilities building.
If we want to progress as a city, we will need to be loud at times. Monday night is one of those times.
Another letter writer from Minneapolis also shared his thoughts in Christianson's actions are concerning:
I have been sporadically following the issue of City Councilman Ron Christianson in Willmar commenting on certain social media posts. As has been asserted, such activity is clearly protected by the First Amendment.
However, as most folks know, Article IV, Section 8 of the Minnesota Constitution requires that elected municipal officials take an oath of office thereby affirming that they will uphold, among other things, the U.S. Constitution.
It appears that some of the posts in question advocate extra-judicial removal of certain citizens and legal residents based on their purported religion or country of origin or, even, alleged low IQ.
These goals are not only discriminatory but, more importantly, call for actions that may violate both the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Please see Section 1.)
These and similar rights are also granted to residents of Minnesota in several sections of Article 1 of the state Constitution.
This may be legitimate cause for concern as, one would hope, elected officials should not in any manner support actions that are unconstitutional.
Martin Demgen
Minneapolis
Demgen's Facebook page reveals him to be a retired man who is a Willmar native.
One Ron Christianson supporter isn't taking this lying down and dashed off the following email to her affinity group:
From: "Sue Quist" To: "Sue Quist"Cc: Sent: 18-Dec-2017 16:24:33 +0000Subject: URGENT: Calling all conservative Christians.
In today's WCT, Ben Larson states that he is going to ask Ron Christianson for his resignation a second time at the City Council Meeting tonight. His justification is Ron liked a comment by one of his constituents -a 90-year old wheelchair bound Christian woman. Only Ron knows what he "liked". Could it be Ron likes the author, her courage to speak on controversial or sensitive issues, the main issue of accepting refugees because of the economic strain or social impact, one or some of her statements, etc. We don't know Ron's thoughts. And do we have the right to intrude or condemn the FB author or Ron's freedom of speech?So will we continue to hide behind the "silent majority" or stand up for our freedoms & rights and a conservative councilman who has always looked at for his hometown of Willmar and his neighbors? Despite the multitude of things yet to do for the holidays, we can't let the liberal socialistic elitists steal our freedoms. I plan on attending tonight's meeting to show my support. PLEASE STAND UP FOR OUR VALUES AND A RIGHJTEOUS MAN WHO FIGHTS FOR US - THE PEOPLE!!! Let's invite others.Please let me know if you will be attending or not.THANK YOU!!!Sue
On her Facebook page Quist appears to have changed her privacy settings for 2017, but older posts show a person concerned about transgender bathroom issues and and other such conservative agenda items. The screengrab at the top of this post shows one item that Christianson liked, a photo of a Holy Bible and a pistol with this statement: "Have you noticed that the two things that led to the creation of our Nation, are the two things democrats want to get rid of?"
The Willmar City Council meeting tonight should be lively.
Bluestem has covering the unfolding story in several posts:
Willmar city council member Christianson under scrutiny for liking racist & mean Facebook posts
Fellow who threw pickled pig's foot at Willmar Farmers Market rises to council member's defense
West Central Tribune: City Council Member Christianson should deal with bias allegations
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