CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore. — A Clackamas County commissioner who has previously been called on to resign over racist comments has drawn condemnation for an incendiary post on social media.
Commissioner Mark Shull shared a meme on Facebook appearing to compare vaccine requirements to persecution faced by Jewish people during the Holocaust.
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?” KGW is declining to show the meme because it is hateful and offensive. Shull has since removed the post.
The rest of the Clackamas County board released a statement slamming Shull.
“We recognize the Facebook post dismissed the horror that the Jewish community and so many others experienced during the holocaust and that it was posted just three weeks following a hate-crime on our campus where a Nazi Swastika was painted on our sidewalk,” the commissioners’ statement read. “We want to be clear that our County and we as commissioners, condemn antisemitism, racism and bigotry.”
The Jewish Federation for Greater Portland also responded to the Facebook post, calling it "appalling, offensive and an affront to the memory of all who perished during the Holocaust."
The group, along with Shull's fellow commissioners, urged him to issue an apology.
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At a policy session Tuesday, Shull instead doubled down.
"When civil liberties are restricted, and we don't speak up to defend our neighbors who might be affected by those restrictions, then we end up with a slippery slope that could end up in a very bad situation," he said.
"I have family that are Jewish, I have family that are Muslim, I have family that are Christian, and family that are Greek Orthodox," said Commissioner Paul Savas at that same meeting. "And anything that relates back to genocide just brings up a lot of pain."
In June, Shull introduced a resolution comparing vaccine documents to Jim Crow laws, drawing swift opposition and leading the county chair, Republican Tootie Smith, to strip Shull of his committee assignments.
The board in January voted for Shull to resign after racist and Islamophobic comments he made online. Shull has not resigned.
In the months since his election, Shull has been censured by his fellow board members, he's had his liaison duties stripped away, and he's facing a recall campaign.
Organizers of the campaign said in a statement Wednesday they're planning to start gathering the 40,000 signatures necessary to recall an elected official "soon."
"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."