Wisc. Official Won’t Resign After Quizzing Muslim Woman On Terrorism

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A Green Bay, Wisc. alderman has refused to resign after he randomly asked a Muslim woman if she condemned radical Islamic terrorism.

Heba Mohammad, a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate, emailed Alderman Chris Wery to ask why bus service is not free on Election Day.

Wery replied to say he would look into it, and then proceeded to ask Mohammed about terrorism, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

“I am just curious, you are the founder of the Muslim Student Association at UWGB?” he asked in the email. “Across the country there seem to be some problems here and there with some MSA’s. I just want to be assured that your group in no way promotes or defends militant Islamic ideology.”

“Do you and the MSA condemn both of those as well as terrorist groups such as HAMAS?” he then asked.

Mohammed was taken aback by Wery’s questions and did not answer him.

“That’s kind of hurtful, to be honest,” Mohammed told the Press-Gazette.

Wery apologized on Thursday.

“I phrased it wrong. It was the wrong setting,” he told the Press-Gazette. “And I apologized for that.”

But amid fervent criticism, Wery refuses to resign.

“I believe in both freedom of religion and freedom of speech,” he said in a statement on Wednesday, according to the Press-Gazette. “Being elected does not mean I lose my freedom of speech.”

Green Bay City Council President Tom DeWane said that Wery will meet with the school’s Muslim Student Association.

H/t Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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