FACEBOOK FIRESTORM
Hamilton Republicans share anti-Muslim, anti-suffragette posts as one prominent GOPer steps down after uproar >>
HAMILTON >> Another social media firestorm has erupted in Hamilton Township, and this one has Republican mainstream footprints all over it.
Four Hamilton Township municipal employees who serve as elected GOP operatives have each shared inflammatory content on Facebook.
Robert DiPastina, who works for the township public works department, and his wife Colleen DiPastina, who works as a civilian Hamilton Police secretary, appear to have shared anti-Muslim content on Facebook.
Meanwhile, former GOP councilman Ed Gore announced his retirement as Hamilton’s public defender Thursday after someone exposed his social media activity concerning an image that used a Ku Klux Klan reference. Kenneth Enderle, an engineering aide for the township, also appears to have shared the same KKK meme, a graphic that denigrates every female Democrat who wore white clothing at President Donald Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address as a tribute to suffragists.
Featuring a bunch of happy face emojis, the social media snipe gleefully declared, “I haven’t seen this many Democrats dressed in white since they created the KKK.”
Above, Gore added his own commentary: “I couldn’t figure out at first what the white signified. It makes sense now. Democrats returning to their KKK roots.”
Gore defended the post as a “joke” and suggested the anti-Muslim content disseminated by the DiPastinas is
far more worthy of condemnation.
“I want equal justice,” Gore said, suggesting the DiPastinas should face consequences for sharing that anti-Muslim graphic. “Their post that was brought to my attention was personal and inflammatory.”
The Dipastinas both shared an anti-Muslim image depicting a bearded man in a Kufi skullcap sitting on a toilet seat, with the Starbucks logo.
“This is a Muslim. They don’t use toilet paper. They use their hand. This is Starbucks. They vow to hire 10,000 Muslims,” the post said.
It seemed to refer to Starbucks’ commitment two years ago to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years. The company initiative was in response to Trump’s controversial travel ban.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a revised policy last year that placed immigration restrictions upon residents of seven foreign nations, including five with Muslim majority populations.
Republican Mayor Kelly Yaede and township attorney Michael Balint both asked Gore to step down as Hamilton’s public defender due to his latest social media controversy, according to the mayor.
“Upon in-depth conversations of the integral role a public defender plays in our judicial system, and the impact his post would have on performing such duties, we asked Mr. Gore to step down from his appointed position and he agreed to do so,” Yaede said Thursday in a statement. “I get that Mr. Gore is upset by his unfortunate choice to post that material. However, when it comes to our local judicial system, officials must represent the citizens it serves without any bias — or even the perception of bias — due to race, gender or political preference.”
Yaede appointed Gore as Hamilton’s public defender in 2017 and said the former councilman “recently offered to support any of my re-election efforts.”
Gore says he decided to retire on his own volition and said he decided to submit his retirement papers before Trump even delivered the State of the Union address Tuesday night. Then he blasted the Yaede administration after liberating himself from township employment.
“I think this whole administration is losing its mind,” he said in an interview with The Trentonian, citing his personal concerns over how the administration is treating John Barrett, Hamilton’s embattled
chief financial officer.
The Yaede administration accuses Barrett of incompetency and insubordination and has suspended him with pay pending the outcome of a tenure charge hearing. Gore, on the other hand, says Barrett is “one of the most respected CFOs in the state of New Jersey.”
Gore, a former town councilman who previously served on the Hamilton school board, apologized in 2015 for making anti-Muslim comments following a terrorist attack that killed five U.S. military service members in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is not apologizing, however, for his latest controversial Facebook post.
“It’s a joke,” he said of the KKK reference that denigrated congressional Democrats. “Everybody took it as a joke except apparently one person.”
Gore worked as a township employee under Yaede and previously worked under former mayors John Bencivengo, Glen Gilmore and Jack Rafferty. He says Yaede fostered the worst work environment.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Gore accused the Yaede administration of being “the only administration where whatever pleases the boss is the rule of the day no matter how stupid that ruling is and how badly the boss’ action adversely affects the community.”
In his interview with The Trentonian, Gore said the Yaede administration should do more to promote diversity within the municipal government. “Qualified African-Americans and women should be encouraged to get into the leadership positions,” he said, saying the administration can start by hiring a qualified woman or AfricanAmerican as the next public defender.
“We do have one woman on council who is Latina who is trying to do a good job,” Gore said, “and she is degraded by the mayor. It is a shame.”
Gore was referring to Republican Hamilton Councilwoman Ileana Schirmer, who has publicly criticized the Yaede administration, even referring to the mayor as “an embarrassment” at a recent council meeting. Gore says he chose to retire, not resign, largely because of his frustration with the Yaede administration.
“To see Mr. Gore, yet again, take to social media in an attempt to deflect our reasons or need to make this decision is rather unfortunate,” Yaede said. “As mayor of the ninth largest town in New Jersey, I could not turn a blind eye to this matter. I wish him all the best.”
Yaede is aware that Hamilton Township municipal employees Robert DiPastina and Collene DiPastina apparently shared anti-Muslim content on Facebook and that township employee Kenneth “Kenny” Enderle apparently shared the same KKKreferencing meme that Gore shared.
“My Administration’s stance on racially insensitive posts was made clear in the last school board election by openly opposing Mr. Henderson and his slate due to their offensive media posts,” Yaede said Thursday in her statement, referring to township resident David Henderson. “I have been made aware of a number of inappropriate social media posts which range from stalking in nature, bigotry and intolerance. My position on such material is crystal clear. This cannot negate that as an appointed public defender whose position is to justly uphold the law, one is held to a much higher standard.”
Former councilman Dennis Pone, chairman of the Hamilton Republican Committee, said it may be worse for a public defender to share insensitive content but expressed disappointment in the DiPastinas and Enderle for their controversial Facebook activity.
“While I feel the post from Ed was insensitive, and perhaps his position as public defender makes it that much worse, I know he is a good man,” Pone said of Gore. “My time on council with Ed was productive and I consider him and his family friends. I wish him well in his retirement.”
“As for Bob, Colleen, and Kenny, I am certainly disappointed,” Pone said of the DiPastinas and Enderle. “I consider them good friends and devoted workers, and while we may disagree on what may or may not be appropriate social media behavior, one insensitive post does not sink to the level of the continuous posts of hate and personal attacks, or ignoring sexual harassment and abusing public employees that we have seen from a county board member we asked to be removed.”
Pone was referring to Hamilton resident David Henderson, a Mercer County Republican strategist who was negatively portrayed in
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