ACLU leader resigns after post about shooting Trump supporters
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump smiles as he has his photograph taken with supporters after being endorsed at a regional police union meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
An ACLU leader has resigned after posting on Facebook that supporters of leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump be shot before Election Day, according to multiple news sources.
The post by Loring Wirbel, co-chairman of the Colorado Springs, Colo., chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union also made a reference to Nazism.
“We have to really reach out to those who might consider voting for Trump and say, ‘This is (Nazi propaganda minister Joseph) Goebbels. This is the final solution. If you are voting for him, I will have to shoot you before Election Day,' " Wirbel wrote Monday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He resigned Thursday but told a local newspaper that his post was intended “totally as a joke.” Wirbel also suggested the post was taken out of context, which he called “smear politics,” while acknowledging that the post could be viewed as offensive.
The post was removed but reposted by Daniel Cole, executive director of the El Paso County Republican Party, resulting in Wirbel resigning as a volunteer chapter representative, according to The New York Daily News.
“It’s a new take on voter outreach: shoot them,” Cole wrote in his Facebook post that accompanied Wirbel’s post.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He also reportedly said Wirbel’s post was “beyond” unacceptable, considering the recent mass shooting at the Colorado Springs-area Planned Parenthood center.
The ACLU reportedly condemned Wirbel’s post and made clear that social media posts on members’ personal accounts don’t represent those of the civil rights organization.