NEW BERLIN, Wis. — The New Berlin Common Council is addressing the discovery of anti-Muslim, racist and sexist content shared on Facebook by Mayor Dave Ament.
TMJ4 reported on the comments last week, with two Muslim organizations calling for Ament's resignation.
The Muslim Women's Coalition and the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance brought Ament's posts to light. The content includes reposts such as "If you voted for a Muslim for elected office - you are a traitor," "If it weren't for white people slavery would've never ended," and posts featuring sexually suggestive content.
The common council released a resolution on Tuesday that condemned the messages from Ament, and saying that the council does not have the authority to fire him.
"Because the Mayor was elected by the citizens of New Berlin, the Common Council does not have the authority to remove him from office in the same manner as would exist for a City employee," the resolution reads.
In the resolution, the common council also said that city employees and department heads have been placed in a hard position because of the posts, and that people are being asked to explain or defend content they did not create.
"Questions about the Mayor's personal social media activity should be directed solely at the Mayor," the resolution said.
The council is also calling on the mayor to "acknowledge the harm which has been caused," and to apologize and accept responsibility.
You can read the full resolution below
Janan Najeeb, founder of the Muslim Women's Coalition, said she was shocked when she first saw the posts.
"At first, I didn't think it was real," Najeeb said.
Najeeb described the content as deeply offensive and wide-ranging in its targets.
"Anti-Muslim, it's anti-black, anti-immigrant, it's very sexist to the point it's cringey and unfortunate for someone of his caliber and stature, and age to be posting some of these things. It was revolting, actually," Najeeb said.
The posts appear on Ament's personal Facebook account, which was public until questions were raised about the content. At times, dozens of reposts appear daily. Among them: a video of a group of people holding "Ban Islam Now" signs, and another post captioned "How to stop a Muslim invasion," accompanied by a video showing military men throwing bacon at people.
"It's concerning to me as a citizen here in Wisconsin and as someone that represents the Muslim community," Najeeb said. "He's really defining women by their cleavage to market his racist support for certain posts and reposting that — that doesn't bode well."
Watch: Muslim leaders call for New Berlin mayor's resignation over lewd social media posts
Najeeb also questioned Ament's fitness for office given the volume of posts.
"The level at which he's posting such outrageous things makes me wonder if he's stable honestly," Najeeb said.
Attempts to speak with Ament in person were unsuccessful last week. When TMJ4 went to his office, we were told he was not in. Returning an hour later, the doors were locked, and the lights were off.
Ament later sent an email statement saying in part: "What is on my personal Facebook page does not represent the official position of the City of New Berlin." He added, "It has never been my intention to disparage or offend any individual...including the Muslim community. My intention was simply to share information on matters of public concern."
A review of his Facebook page, however, shows that for roughly every dozen reposts, only one relates to New Berlin.
We contacted every alderman about the posts. Many said I was the first to inform them of the content. Alderman Maxey said over the phone that he does not support the posts and that "as a public official you just can't post anything that comes to mind." Alderman Stribl responded by text: "I unequivocally condemn such language and beliefs, which have no place in our community."
The Muslim Women's Coalition is calling for Ament's resignation.
"We're calling for his resignation. I don't think New Berlin needs someone like that representing them," Najeeb said.
"It's just inappropriate for an elected official and something that creates division and puts people at risk," Najeeb said.
CAIR urges for Mayor's resignation
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) joined the calls for the mayor's resignation on Saturday morning, saying, "Mayor Ament should resign and allow New Berlin to move forward with leadership that respects all of its residents. He should also take responsibility for the bigoted material he shared and apologize to New Berlin's Muslim residents and other affected communities."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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