Illinois Republicans remove offensive Facebook post about ‘Jihad Squad’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/22/illinois-republican-group-removes-facebook-post-calling-congresswomen-the-jihad-squad

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An Illinois Republican group has apologized and removed from its Facebook page a post that showed images of four Democratic congresswomen who have been criticized by Donald Trump and referred to them as the “Jihad Squad”.

Trump renews racist attack on Squad: 'They're not capable of loving the US'

The post appeared on Friday night on the Republican County Chairmen’s Association page. The Chicago Tribune reported that it showed images of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib on a poster.

Captions said “Political jihad is their game” and “If you don’t agree with their socialist ideology, you’re racist.”

The four congresswomen sometimes refer to themselves as “the Squad”.

Mark Shaw, president of the Republican group, condemned what he called an “unauthorized” post and apologized to anyone offended.

This is on the Illinois Republican County Chairmen’s Association’s Facebook site: pic.twitter.com/0qzKsiRzzq

Trump harshly criticized progressive members of Congress without identifying them by name, tweeting that they should go back to where they came from. All four are US citizens and only Omar was born in a foreign country.

In Louisiana, meanwhile, a police officer posted a comment on his Facebook page calling Ocasio-Cortez a “vile idiot” and suggesting she be shot.

The Gretna police chief, Arthur Lawson, said on Friday his officer’s post was “disturbing” but he doesn’t believe it constitutes an actual threat.

The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate reported that Officer Charlie Rispoli wrote that Ocasio-Cortez “needs a round” and not “the kind she used to serve”. Ocasio-Cortez was a bartender before winning election last year.

The post included a fake story with a fabricated quote to make it appear as if Ocasio-Cortez said: “We pay soldiers too much.”

The chief said the post violated department policy and internal affairs was investigating but any disciplinary measures would not be made public.