A housing official in North Carolina is under investigation for Facebook posts targeting black people, illegal immigrants, and Democrats.
Malcolm “Mac” Butner refuses to step down from his appointed post as chairman of the Rowan County Housing Authority, and county commissioners say there’s not much they can do because the comments were made in his personal time.
The local chapter of the NAACP and other organizations have called for Butner’s termination after he made denigrating comments about blacks in a post in reference to a Moral Monday protest.
“Gee, they are all black,” Butner posted. “I guess the white folk could not get off because they were too busy working (and) being productive, good citizens.”
He also claimed liberals and Democrats“don’t have a principled bone in their body and they don’t care even if our constitutional republic is destroyed.”
“To hell with the lesbos, queers, liberals and baby killers,” he added.
Butner removed some of those posts from his Facebook page, which still shows several pro-Confederate posts he shared, along with his own all-caps commentary.
“The primary difference between the leaders of the Confederate States of America and the Union is that Confederate leaders were godly gentlemen and the Union folks were not,” Butner posted June 5.
The Rowan County commission has launched an investigation, and commissioners said they hoped Butner resigned before his term expired in September.
But Butner denies the charges in the discrimination complaint, saying that his social media posts did not discuss housing or discrimination.
“I’m still protected by the First Amendment,” he said.
The county manager has been ordered to complete a report on the investigation by Aug. 4 after meeting with local officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Watch this video report posted online by WSOC-TV:
