CLACKAMAS, Ore. — On Tuesday, Clackamas County Board member Mark Shull released a statement claiming he did not make a statement comparing vaccine mandates to the persecution faced by Jewish people during the Holocaust, but only posted a meme.
In a press release sent from his desk sent to news agencies late Monday night, Shull doubled down on the antisemitic post on his Facebook page that has since been removed. In the release, he said the meme was sent to him from a Jewish community member and contained a quote from Stephen Spielberg’s 1995 documentary “The Last Days.”
Shull went on to say, “I posted the meme without adding any commentary to it, no comparison to current events, no disrespect for the holocaust or for the Jewish community; no comments at all, just the meme. My fellow Commissioners had a preconceived notion that my intent was to cause harm. Nothing is further from the truth!"
Screenshots show the meme mentions Nazi soldiers requiring Jewish people in Germany during World War II to wear a yellow star on their clothes when outdoors, and asks “Anyone see the parallel?”
Earlier this year Shull brought a draft of a resolution that tried to compare the mandates to Jim Crow-era laws and drew a public lambasting by his peers that stripped him of the right to represent the board in any public capacity.
Smith did not mince words when addressing Shull in the meeting with his Jim Crow resolution.
"Mark Shull you have been through so much and at times my heart has bled for you. I have given you allowances, I have supported you and you should know better," Smith said back in June. "I find this resolution, as originally submitted, abhorrent and irresponsible. And I do not believe the references to Jim Crow, regardless of history, support the greatest good for Clackamas County."
Fellow commissioners said they worried for the perception of Clackamas County when resolutions like the one Shull presented were on public record.
Shull maintained his intentions were to simply stimulate conversation and doubled down on how he did not believe it was racist. It’s worth nothing Shull had a litany of other racist and Islamophobic posts on his Facebook and the board tried to strip him of his salary for it back in January.
Due to the most recent meme, the Jewish Federation for Greater Portland responded to the Facebook post, calling it "appalling, offensive and an affront to the memory of all who perished during the Holocaust."
Shull’s fellow commissioners and the Jewish Federation for Greater Portland asked for an apology. Shull has not issued one.
Shull is facing a recall campaign.
"The disgusting and offensive use of the Holocaust to advance his political agenda is yet another confirmation of why Mark Shull is unfit to lead this county," said local labor activist Ira Erbs, a child of Holocaust survivors and a leader in the Recall Mark Shull campaign. "It is past time for Shull to step down, and if he fails to do so, we intend to ask the voters to replace him."
