California mayor resigns after Facebook rants against BLM, Trans community exposed
Piedmont, California Mayor Jeff Wieler has stepped down from his position after he drew fire for comments he made on Facebook about the Trans community and Black Lives Matter...
On Sunday, Piedmont Mayor Jeff Wieler stepped down from his position after he drew fire for comments he made on Facebook about the transgender community and Democrats in general.
The position itself is largely symbolic and holds no real power, with the mayor being chosen from the city council itself, usually as the member with the most seniority. None of the council members, or the mayor, is paid, though the mayor represents the city at pubic events.
Wieler’s Facebook posts included statements like “Black Lives Matter encourages cop killing,” “Democrats are the plantation slave masters of today,” and “Transgenders are mentally ill.”
He has since apologized, saying that his comments were “inappropriate,” especially when the “country is going through a very difficult period.”
“We have a president who has coarsened the national dialogue and made many people feel insulted,” Wieler said. “No matter what you think of his policies and programs, this is a reality that I and many other Republicans are coming to acknowledge.”
“I apologize deeply for the pain I’ve caused. Going forward, I will restrict my Facebook posts to pictures of our pets and vacation pictures. Fortunately, I’ve never tweeted!”
While Wieler is stepping down as mayor, he has also said that he will remain on the council.
