Yucaipa mayor under fire over offensive shared posts about Muslims, migrants

YUCAIPA, Calif. (KABC) -- Critics are denouncing a slew of caustic messages the mayor of Yucaipa shared on social media slamming Muslims and migrants. Civil rights advocates are demanding answers.

Mayor Bobby Duncan was elected just a few months ago, quoted as saying he looks forward to "giving it my best for the next year."

But now, there are these screen grabs of posts he shared on Facebook. One says in part, "I don't know about y'all, but I am 100% anti-Islam."

Another post says the word Islamaphobic was "invented to vilify and silence anyone being honest about mankind's most violence supremacist culture."

Another post read, "Stop all welfare to illegal aliens and they'll deport themselves."

Though some residents said they don't approve of the shared messages, the mayor has a lot of support in town.

"Mr. Duncan is a great man. He does a lot of service for this town," said Yucaipa resident Matt Garner.

Wednesday afternoon, the mayor posted a response on Facebook, reading in part "I strongly support the United States Constitution and the fundamental right we are given as Americans, to express our opinions freely"... but went on to say the negative impact of his posts were not his intent.

Still, the Council on American Islamic Relations is calling for Duncan to resign.

"I would like to hope that he realizes how (it's) awful and horrific what he did, especially in light of the horrific massacre that happened about a month ago in New Zealand, 50 innocent people killed," said Hussam Auiloush of CAIR. "Islamophobia and bigotry kills, it's deadly, it's not just an expression. What it does is it fuels and incites people to take action against the victimized or the targeted group."

Eyewitness News reached out to the mayor for him to further clarify his stance on the issues, but he has not responded to a request for an interview.