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A Facebook post saying a ban on Islam "sounds good" by a San Gabriel Valley official has led to a public outcry and calls for his resignation.El Monte city planning commissioner Art Barrios came under fire for a post he made earlier this week where he shared a Louder With Crowder blog post with the headline "China Makes Major Moves To Ban Islam" and added the comment, "Sounds good maybe the rest of the world should do the same." The post Barrios shared comes from the conservative blog by comedian Steven Crowder, and is filled with the usual Islamaphobic rhetoric one would expect from such a site.
Barrios said he had no idea it had upset people until the L.A. Times reached out to him on Wednesday, after the Council on American Islamic Relations called for his resignation.
"While Mr. Barrios has the right to his bigoted views, it is unacceptable for a person who holds such views to be in a position of public trust and authority," CAIR spokesman Haroon Manjlai told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. "Discrimination against building of mosques is widespread and well documented, and therefore it is unacceptable that a planning commissioner of any city, who ought to be fair and neutral, would hold such hateful views."
"Someone who was an elected official in this community represents everyone, and Islamaphobia like that is completely uncalled for," an unhappy El Monte resident told NBC4.
Barrios' own pratfall with social media comes in the wake of a Silver Lake neighborhood councilwoman who stepped down after she wrote on Facebook that "all illegals should have to work like slaves."
Barrios apologized for his comment but says he won't be stepping down. He says the comment was hastily written and a "mistake," and that he was referring to Islamic extremists and not the second-largest religion in the world. "I meant to say this would be a step forward if it pertained exclusively to Islamic extremists of the world, and not Islam the religion," said Barrios.
Mayor Andre Quintero said what Barrios wrote was "very insensitive" and would ask the council to "look into" removing him from his position.
