Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez is being called to resign after he shared Bondi Beach mass shooting conspiracy theories on a social media site.
Bay Area Jewish groups are asking for Martinez to step down after he reposted LinkedIn posts blaming Israel for the December 14 shooting in Australia, as reported by Richmondside.
Screenshots captured by the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area show Martinez shared content from a Palestinian activist and professor claiming an Israeli soldier might have committed the Bondi attack.
One post claimed that, “paid actors have a history of carrying out the false flag, anti-Jewish attacks in Australia then blaming others.”
Another post Martinez shared featured the caption “The root cause of antisemitism is the behavior of Israel & Israelis,” alongside an image of the Star of David.
Martinez later deleted the posts and apologized on LinkedIn.
“I want to apologize for sharing my previous posts without thinking,” he wrote in a post on Wednesday. “Of course we know that antisemitism was here before the creation of the state of Israel. As I’ve said many times before, we should not conflate Zionism with Judaism. They are two separate beliefs.”
The Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area issued an open letter to Martinez, requesting his resignation.
“Such rhetoric is dangerously antisemitic, deeply offensive, and wholly unacceptable – particularly coming from a sitting mayor,” the group wrote. “Words from public officials carry weight and when those words echo antisemitic tropes they place people at risk.”
Fifteen people died in Sunday’s mass shooting which took place at a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
A father and son linked to the Islamic State terrorist organization are accused of committing the atrocity.
This isn’t the first time Martinez has come under fire for his antisemitic sentiments.
This fall, while speaking at a pro-Palestinian conference in Detroit, Martinez wore a hat reading “DDTTIDF,” which stands for “Death, Death to the Israel Defense Forces.”
“Taken together, these actions reflect a consistent and deeply troubling disregard for the safety and dignity of Jewish people,” the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area wrote.
“They erode public trust and send a chilling message to Jewish residents that they are neither protected nor respected by their own mayor.”
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