The chair of the Mesa County, Colorado, Republican Party says he’s going to “tighten the posting policies” on the organization’s official Facebook page after an item appeared on the site Monday, and was subsequently removed, speculating that George Floyd’s death was staged.
“It’s already been removed, and it’s gone,” Kevin McCarney, chair of the Mesa County Republican Party, told the Colorado Times Recorder. “It’s not the position of the party.”
The Mesa County Republican Party pasted 21 “puzzling” questions about Floyd’s death of its Facebook page and made a comment suggesting that the organization was open to the possibility that the death was a hoax.
“This is a cut and paste from another group — I don’t know the answers,” stated the Mesa County Republican Party, in its comment above the list of questions, which included:
“Why did the kneeling officer appear completely cool and calm, as if he was posing for the camera?”
“Is there any cop dumb enough to continue kneeling on someone’s neck for 8 minutes when surrounded by people and being video recorded?”
“Is it possible for the deceased’s cousins and fiance to be completely tearless during interviews?”
Now Mesa Republicans are totally denouncing these questions and the post itself.
“We think what we happened to George Floyd was awful, and one hundred percent, our stance is that we support justice for George Floyd, absolutely. that never should have happened.”
(Nine other questions appeared on the post.)
Asked for an explanation for the appearance of the post, McCarney said, “One of my guys put it up there, and I asked him to remove it as soon as it popped up.”
McCarney didn’t name the person responsible, but it’s not the first time members of the group have posted racist memes or disinformation on Facebook.
In December, Mark McCallister, then a former second vice chair of the Mesa County Republican Party, posted an awful meme on his personal Facebook page depicting Trump placing a noose around the neck of Obama. McCallister didn’t comment.
Asked for a response at the time, state Rep. Matt Soper (R-Delta) told the Colorado Times Recorder, “I didn’t see this on Mark’s Facebook page, so I cannot comment. On account of the bitter divide at the Federal level, respect and a willingness act as decent humans is lacking. As we celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah, I’d ask of politicos and the media alike to tone down fanning the flames of this divide, so that we can be civil and focus on helping those in need, spending time with family and friends during this Holiday season. This is a message for Republicans and Democrats.”
In 2018, McCallister, who held the post of second vice-chair of the Mesa Republicans at the time, shared a racist Facebook post on his personal Facebook page comparing California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who’s one of the country’s leading African American women, to the alien beast in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous 1987 movie, Predator. The organization did not respond to a request for comment at the time. He also posted fake news the previous year.
Other content on the Mesa GOP Facebook page shows anger and doubt about the Floyd protests.
“Hopefully, these riots are winning converts from the gun-control crowd to our side. When crime runs rampant, the police can’t be everywhere at once,” states the group in one recent post.
Another recent post states: “Sickening these staged protests make it to our State.”
Another implies that the “riots” are sponsored by George Soros to “cover” for Biden.
“And if these riots don’t stop we know the true agenda. Cover for Biden this election year. A message paid for by George Soros,” states the post.
The home page of the Mesa County Republican Party states, “Keeping Mesa County Great,” along with the statement, “We believe in American exceptionalism. We believe the United States of America is unlike any other nation on earth. We believe America is exceptional because of our historic role — first a refuge, then a defender, and now an exemplar of liberty for the world to see.”
