Local ACLU co-chair resigns over Facebook post controversy
Update:
The American Civil Liberties Union confirmed Friday evening that Loring Wirbel has resigned from the organization.
KRDO has contacted Wirbel for comment, but so far he has not responded.
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Original story:
El Paso County Republican Party chairman Jeff Hays and Executive Director Daniel Cole called on Colorado Springs American Civil Liberties Union co-chair Loring Wirbel to resign Friday.
A screenshot that’s circulating around the Internet allegedly captures the following post on Wirbel’s Facebook account:
“The thing is, we have to really reach out to those who might consider voting for Trump and say, “This is Goebbels. This is the final solution. If you are voting for him I will have to shoot you before election day.” They’re not going to listen to reason, so when justice is gone, there’s always force, as Laurie would say.”
Wirbel said late Thursday night that he did not write the post, and instead, someone pieced together a series of comments and posts he’s made on Facebook.
“It’s very clear that wasn’t my belief, that we shouldn’t do that type of thing. That was all put together with comments from a bunch of different threads and presented as one unified whole as if I was the one advocating that Trump supporters should be shot which is just not me. I don’t believe in violence against people,” said Wirbel.
Wirbel has been involved with the American Civil Liberties Union for more than 20 years. He is currently co-chair of the Colorado Springs chapter and chapter representative to ACLU of Colorado Board.
“It looks to me like assembled political attack material. It’s the only way I can describe it,” said Wirbel.
El Paso County Republican Party Executive Director Daniel Cole maintains the screenshot is not a hoax, and he saw the comment himself on Wirbel’s Facebook page.
“We have security at our meetings and events. The Republican Party champions the peaceful exchange of ideas. We encourage the ACLU to do the same,” Cole said in a statement Thursday night.
On Friday, both Cole and El Paso County Republican Party Chairman Jeff Hays had harsh words for Wirbel and the ACLU.
“Mr. Wirbel’s continued leadership of the ACLU is an outrage. Mr. Wirbel should resign his posts immediately or the ACLU should remove him,” Cole said.
“If he has any guts, he will immediately resign and take his sickening ideas far away from our fair city; if the ACLU has any integrity, they will fire him and renounce the bile he spewed. We shall see if either has or does either,” Hays said.
The screenshot was first picked up by The Daily Caller, an online publication. The writer,Derek Hunter, said in an email Thursday that he also saw the post himself on Wirbel’s Facebook page and took a screenshot that he then posted online.
If the comment did exist on Wirbel’s Facebook page, it has been deleted. Wirbel insists he did not post it. He said he will continue to post his opinions online, but the experience taught him to be more cautious.
“People are going to take you literally regardless, that was my lesson. It doesn’t mean I’ll be any less outspoken. I’ll just have to be careful of how I say things,” said Wirbel.
