GOP rebukes county chairman's 'outrageous' comments on Muslims

A Minnesota Republican Party official issued a "call to arms" against Muslims on Thursday, calling them "terrorists" and "parasites" and suggesting that someone should "frag 'em."

Jack Whitley, chairman of the Big Stone County Republican Party, had no apology for the series of inflammatory posts on his personal Facebook page — remarks the state party leadership condemned as "outrageous."

"Muslims are terrorists. They don't belong in this country," Whitley said in an interview. "Their attitude and their agenda don't belong in this country. They cause terror and discontent, total chaos everywhere they are."

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Whitley wrote that he opposes waterboarding as "a waste of resources. They are muslims [sic], they are terrorist, we know where they are from, we know where their buddies are, we know where thier [sic] mosque's [sic] are, we know millions of these parasites travel to Mecca every year and when … FRAG 'EM!"

The Minnesota Republican Party leadership denounced Whitley's remarks.

"I condemn the outrageous comments posted on Mr. Whitley's Facebook page," GOP Chairman Keith Downey said in a statement. "They could not be further from the Republican Party's beliefs, nor more contrary to the efforts we have undertaken to include Muslim Americans, and every American, in our Party. We recently moved our office into the heart of Minneapolis, were proud to endorse our first Somali-American candidate for the state Legislature, and have worked hard to welcome the fine Americans from these communities into our Party."

The post, first reported by the Bluestem Prairie blog, also brought protests from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"It's very disturbing to see a Republican Party leader engage in outright bigotry and hate," CAIR-Minnesota executive director Lori Saroya said in a statement. "These broad-brush smears of the entire Muslim community remind us of similar smears against Catholics, Jews and others in the past."

Whitley said he sees no reason to apologize. In a follow-up Facebook post Thursday, he wrote: "I will not apologize and I will not compromise. They either need to repent except [sic] Jesus Chist [sic] or leave the country … If you want to consider this a call to arms, then so be it."

Jennifer Brooks • 612-673-4008