A New Jersey school board official is under fire after his hateful Facebook posts about Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Muslims in general were recently discovered.
Daniel Leonard, an elected school board member of the Toms River Regional Schools district, posted a photo of Tlaib in April captioned with “my life would be complete if she/they die.”
Other posts included an image of “Sharia Barbie,” a doll wearing a hijab with bruises all over her face, and an article of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) labeling her a “terrorist…100%”
(Screenshots courtesy of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations)
CAIR-NJ executive director James Sues told TPM that the organization received the screenshots of Leonard’s posts anonymously on Tuesday.
Now CAIR is calling for Leonard’s ouster.
“The bigoted, hateful and threatening social media posts shared by this elected board of education official serve to disqualify him for any position that has responsibility for the safety, security and well-being of New Jersey’s diverse student body,” Sues said in a statement. “The bigoted views expressed by Mr. Leonard have no place in an educational system that seeks to celebrate diversity and encourage students of all faiths and backgrounds to excel scholastically and to make positive contributions to our society.”
Stephan Leone, the school board attorney, told the Asbury Park Press that Leonard’s “totally inappropriate” posts “do not reflect the board’s attitude or opinions.”
The board will “take appropriate action,” Leone said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a fellow member of the four-person “Squad” of progressive congresswomen, has been targeted by similarly threatening Facebook posts by authority figures. Two Louisiana cops were fired this week after one of them posted that Ocasio-Cortez “needs a round” while the other “liked” it.
