In a follow-up to the ‘misleading’ Facebook post from District 30 Rep. Ron Gillham of Kenai posted on June 21st that has, since, been deleted, the Alaska Broadcasters Association sent out a letter addressed to the Kenai Representative strongly condemning his comments.
The letter says, “We were dismayed to learn that you shared an offensive hate speech image on your Facebook page last week. The image you shared with your followers clearly suggests violence against journalists who report on the COVID-19 pandemic and on members of the medical community.”
The caption of the photo Rep. Gillham shared read: “Members of the media who lied and misled the German People were executed, right along with Medical Doctors and Nurses who participated in medical experiments using living people as guinea pigs. Those who forget the past are condemned to relive it.”
The picture was hidden from Facebook timelines, saying that it was a photograph that showed violent or graphic content. Before it was deleted, you still could see the photo.
The Alaska Broadcasters Association said, “We strongly object to your action to spread this false, offensive and potentially dangerous material. Doing so puts the safety of Alaska journalists and medical professionals at risk.”
The letter continues, “Now that you are an elected public official, your social media posts are influential. You have a responsibility to the people of your district and to all of the citizens of Alaska to set a higher standard for the truth and to consider the implications of what you post. You cannot separate your private views from your new job – you are a public figure now and you are accountable to the all of the people of Alaska. Your sharing of this hate message was dangerous and irresponsible.”
In sending the letter to Rep. Louise Stutes, the Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives and Rep. Cathy Tilton, House Minority Leader, the Board of Directors of the Alaska Broadcasters Association says that Rep. Gillham dishonors his position and his oath by promoting this message.
Rep. Gillham responded on KSRM’s ‘The Bird’s Eye View’:
“I’m not advocating violence against anybody. In my whole life, I’ve never had a fight. I mean an actual fist fight. I am not about violence and there’s got to be a different way…you talk it out. For them to come on and say that I’m advocating violence against the media is, that’s not true. I’m going to get beat up and I’ve said it before, I can either get beat up for doing the right thing or I can get beat up for doing the wrong thing. Maybe sharing that post was the wrong thing, but the reason I put it out there was to show so that it doesn’t happen again. I see pictures of car accidents, that’s for people to slow down so that they don’t end up in the car accident. That was my thought process behind that and how it got turned around to where it’s at now I don’t know.”
AFP Fact Check reported that the shared picture was misleading, reporting that the picture in question shows a public hanging in Kiev, Ukraine, not Nuremburg, Germany.
ABA letter to Rep. Gillham 7-01-2021