County Employee Faces Discipline for Post Critical of Islam He Made on His Private Facebook Page

A Florida public servant may be disciplined for posting a message critical of Islam on his personal Facebook page, a county official said this week.

Palm Beach County Public Affairs staffer John Jamason, in 2008. (Credit: Palm Beach Post)

Palm Beach County Administrator Bob Weisman said the county is still deciding whether or not to discipline public information officer John Jamason for a 9/11 Facebook post skewering Islam, according to the Palm Beach Post.

“Never forget. There is no such thing as radical Islam. All Islam is radical. There may be Muslims who don’t practice their religion, much like others. The Quran is a book that preaches hate,” the message said, according to WPTV.

Weisman said that if Jamason were not a "merit system employee who is protected by State law from arbitrary termination" he may have been fired by now.

"If he was an at-will employee, for which I do have more discretion, I would be considering his termination today for the ignorance of his comments and that they are hurtful to part of our community," Weisman told WPTV.

Jamason, however, has adamantly defended his comments.

"If I owe anybody an apology, it would be the county commissioners and county administration just for the fact that you're all on my porch. No, I don't think I owe anybody an apology, I didn't say anything offensive, " he reportedly said.

Watch a local news clip, courtesy of WPTV:

Nonetheless, his comments have ignited controversy and calls for disciplinary action.

Speaking at the Palm Beach Muslim Community Mosque, Imam Abdul Hakim said his comments were irresponsible.

"Maybe he should be suspended or something, because the thing is if you're going to bring that mindset into one facet, it might evolve into other facets and that might affect his work too," Hakim added.

On Friday, a Muslim group demanded county officials turn over all social media comments Jamason has made using county computers, in addition to emails he has sent or received in the past 60 days that pertain to Muslims.

(H/T: Palm Beach Post)

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