‘Playing terrorist’ Facebook post by SC city leader is racist, advocacy group says

A nationwide Muslim advocacy group is calling on Berkeley, South Carolina, officials to hold a councilman accountable for a photo posted to Facebook of himself dressed in traditional Arab clothing with a caption about “playing a terrorist.”

Tommy Newell, district 4 councilman, posted the photo Monday on Facebook along with a caption reading, “I had the ultimate and absolute honor of playing a terrorist (Shiek of Berkeley County) in a training exercise for our American badasses!!!!” according to a screenshot taken by the Council on American-Islamic Relation.

The post, which has since been deleted, goes on to say, “I don’t care if me cussing hurts your little feelings cupcake!!!! These men and woman are the reason this country is feared and loved by other countries!”

It’s unclear who the other four people in the picture are, or the purpose of the training exercise.

Newell did not immediately respond to requests for comment from McClatchy News. The Berkeley Council is providing no comment, outlets report.

“We urge county officials to investigate this incident and to repudiate the type of xenophobia and Islamophobia it represents,” Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.

Hooper said Newell’s post, and the event it captured, associates everyday Arab and Islamic clothing with terrorism. Newell and the training’s organizers “are placing local Muslim families in danger of stereotyping and bias,” Hooper said.

This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 5:20 PM with the headline "‘Playing terrorist’ Facebook post by SC city leader is racist, advocacy group says."