Local, national organizations want resignation of Jasper County Commissioner

Several organizations are calling for the resignation of Jasper County Commissioner John Bartosh after two “anti-muslim” posts were shared on Bartosh’s Facebook page last year. Read more from a press release that The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), shared below:

The nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization today joined other community and civil rights organizations in calling for the resignation of a Missouri official who posted Islamophobic materials online.

CAIR joined Joplin for Justice, the Joplin NAACP and Black Lives Matter of Southwest Missouri in calling on presiding Jasper County Commissioner John Bartosh to resign for offensive Facebook posts, including one urging that a “pork restaurant” and a liquor store be built next to American mosques. (NOTE: Muslims are prohibited from consuming alcohol or pork products.) The post suggested a name for the liquor story that mocked Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Another post mocked Islamic attire and told Muslims to “adjust to their culture. . .or leave their country.”

Last week, Bartosh issued an apology after his 16-year-old son was seen on video in a bar, drinking what appeared to be a beer, and singing a racist version of Alabama’s Song of the South.