El Monte Planning Commissioner Art Barrios has come under fire for comments he made about Islam on the popular social media website, Facebook.
Barrios issued the comment in response to a post by comedian Steven Crowder which bore the caption “China Makes Major Moves to Ban Islam.”
“Sounds good maybe the rest of the world should the same,” Barrios wrote in the comment section.
Barrios has since apologized for his off-the-cuff remark, insisting it is not representative of his views on Islam. But that did little to assuage members of the Council on American Islamic Relations, who called for the official’s resignation last week.
“While Mr. Barrios has the right to his bigoted views, it is unacceptable for a person who holds such views to be in a position of public trust and authority,” CAIR-LA Public Affairs Coordinator Haroon Manjlai said. “Discrimination against building of mosques is widespread and well documented, and therefore it is unacceptable that a planning commissioner of any city, who ought to be fair and neutral, would hold such hateful views.”
Barrios, who also served as a city councilman from 1997 to 2009, says he has no intention of resigning. Mayor Andre Quintero expressed concern over the remarks and said he would have the council to “look into” Barrio’s possible removal from the commission.
Read more about the controversy here.