When gunman Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez shot and killed five U.S. military service members July 16 in Chattanooga, Tenn., a Hamilton councilman went to Facebook to voice his sentiments.
“Murdering bastard. Rot in hell Muslim scum,” Ed Gore wrote at 6:04 p.m. July 16 in a Facebook post. When someone responded to Gore’s statement with a comment telling Gore to not hold back, Gore added, “Oh I never hold back on domestic terrorists.”
Gore apologized Wednesday in an interview with The Trentonian while also explaining why he wrote the controversial statement.
“Certainly I don’t mean all Muslims are scum,” Gore said Wednesday. “If I offended any Muslims, I am sorry. I would certainly hope all Muslims would join me in condemning the murder of innocent Americans anywhere in the world.”
Imam Qareeb Bashir, president of the Islamic Council of Greater Trenton, Wednesday said he was “appalled and really disappointed in the comments made by someone who is an elected official, a representative of the people, that he would use such derogatory labels for groups of people.”
“I would say the religion of Islam does not promote violence or the killing of innocent people,” said Bashir, who extended his condolences to the families of the victims of the Tennessee attack.
“I am not some type of anti-Muslim kook,” Gore said. “I wish I would have clarified it more and am sorry if I offended anybody. I want to let people know it was the emotion of the time. You think with your head and not with your heart.”
Bashir, who is also co-chairperson of the United Mercer Interfaith Organization, said he hopes Gore “will use this as a point of reflection and make a public apology to all of the citizens of Hamilton and specifically the Muslim population of Hamilton and the surrounding areas. We expect more from our elected officials.”
Gore, who is an Irish Catholic, said he was “very critical” of the 1979 Irish Republican Army terrorist attack in Ireland that killed Lord Mountbatten and three others when a bomb exploded.
“I said they were murdering Irish Catholic bastards,” Gore said Wednesday, referring to the IRA members responsible for the 1979 attack. Gore said his remarks on the IRA attack are the “same thing” as his July 16 Facebook comments on the 24-year-old Abdulazeez who was killed by police following his deadly rampage.
Hamilton Councilman Kevin Meara, a Republican like Gore, said it was a “shame” and “disappointing” for Gore to post the controversial Facebook comment.