Pennsylvania mayor denounced over racist Facebook photos
A Republican Pennsylvania mayor is being censured by his own council for posting a racist Facebook photo comparing President Obama and his family to orangutans.
The West York town council voted in favor of a motion to censure Mayor Charles Wasko at a Monday night meeting, PennLive.com reported. The council passed the motion unanimously.
“We will send a message to the mayor that his legislative body rebukes him in every way,” council president Shawn Mauck said before a packed borough hall. “He has embarrassed all of us. Not just this table but everyone in this room. Everyone in West York. Everyone in York County, everyone in this Commonwealth.”
Wasko drew national reproach after a slew of anti-immigrant and outright racist photos were discovered on his Facebook profile.
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Arguably the most shocking photo was of five orangutans in a wheelbarrow with the text “Aww…moving day at the Whitehouse (sic) has finally arrived.” Wasko captioned the shocking image “Not soon enough.”
This shocking photo prompted a Pennsylvania town to censure its own mayor.
(Charles Wasko/Facebook)
Several other photos flaunt pro-Donald Trump sentiments, with one captioned “If Trump loses…No matter where you are or your family go, you won’t be safe. America will no longer exist!”
Hundreds of West York residents piled into the small town’s borough hall Monday evening to denounce Wasko and his hateful rhetoric. Some, without naming names, implied a toxic presidential race might be to blame for the mayor’s inflammatory social media postings.
“He is not just distasteful, he is dangerous,” said Carla Christopher, a member of local activist rights group Put People First. “He is dangerous to Hispanics, he is dangerous to African Americans, he is dangerous to women, to our Muslim friends and neighbors…He is dangerous to the economic stability and future of this borough.”
Pennsylvania mayor urged to resign over racist Facebook posts
In addition to passing a motion to censure Wasko, the council has urged him to resign immediately.
This photo, implying that President Obama should be hanged, was also posted to Wasko’s Facebook page.
(Charles Wasko/Facebook)
“We are on to you,” Mauck said. “We ask you now to do the right thing and resign tomorrow.”
Wasko was first elected mayor of the small town some 100 miles west of Philadelphia in 2013, and has gained notoriety for rarely showing up to public events. He didn’t attend Monday night’s meeting and did not return requests for comment from the Daily News.
Despite dodging phone calls and not attending meetings, Wasko did post a cryptic comment to the loathed orangutan image on his Facebook page.
“There aer (sic) a lot of people hiding in the closets that want to say something but are afraid to do so,” he wrote around 9 p.m.
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