Unbeknownst to his constituents, Dean Sawyer, the mayor of Newport, Oregon,
spent years posting hateful jokes, memes, and speech on a private Facebook group of 39,000 members. If someone hadn't leaked images of the posts, he might have been able to keep his true views secret - but now they're out in the open, and the people are demanding answers.
How was this man able to be mayor while holding and sharing these hateful views? And who else might be in this clearly problematic group that has not yet been caught?
Sign now to tell the Oregon State Legislature to investigate this Facebook group and hold any public official who is posting hateful speech accountable!The private Facebook group is
specifically for cops and other members of law enforcement. Sawyer, a former police officer himself, had been sharing sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and xenophobic content since 2016. The posts are awful to read, and involve him denigrating women, immigrants, and people who do not speak English.
Since the posts became public, Sawyer has apologized and resigned. But if they hadn't come to light, would he ever have taken any accountability?
Sawyer stepping down is a good first step, but it is simply not enough. In recent weeks, Sawyer had been relentlessly posting attacking transgender rights, explicitly targeting the transgender community with transphobic language.
It is unacceptable for any public official to be holding these kinds of views, let alone openly spewing them on the internet.It is time the state legislature in Oregon take this issue seriously and investigate this man's hate speech - as well as the group overall. Sign the petition now if you agree!