A North Carolina school board member is refusing to resign after weeks of protests over a social media post calling Islam a “satanic death cult.”
Gaston County School Board member Tod Kinlaw shared a Facebook post in March featuring a graphic that said, “Islam is a Satanic death cult. Allah is Satan. Mohammed is a false prophet.” The posts were soon taken down, according to WCNC-TV in Charlotte, but not before screenshots spread quickly in the community, drawing local protest and demands for his removal or resignation at a packed school board meeting on Monday.
Despite the uproar, Kinlaw appeared to defend the post in a video published March 30 by the Gaston Gazette.
“I didn’t, I don’t, I didn’t pick on Muslims or any of that thing that people are saying, oh, he hates Muslims,” Kinlaw told a reporter. “I’ve witnessed, I’ve shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with multiple Muslims, but as far as the Sharia law and the fact of them, of that ideology wanting to persecute the LGBTQ, I mean, have you read the Quran at all?”
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The Gaston County School Board issued a statement April 1, saying Kinlaw’s comments did not reflect the views of the school board, but also said they lacked the power to remove him from office, WBTV, another Charlotte TV station, reported.
“We are aware of a recent post on social media that has created controversy. It is important to point out that what was shared is not the opinion or position of the full Board,” school board chairman Josh Crisp said. “Elected officials, such as Board of Education members, are held to high standards, and we understand that we represent all students, employees, parents, families, and community members regardless of religions, beliefs, backgrounds, and statuses. Individual Board members are responsible for their individual actions, and a Board member’s individual actions do not automatically represent the full Board.”
“The Board of Education does not have the authority to remove an individual Board member from elected office,” Crisp added.
Residents of Gaston County called for Kinlaw to resign during a Monday school board meeting that also had protests taking place beforehand. The 100 seats in the room for the school board filled within five minutes of the doors opening.
“The fact that he can’t respect the student body as a whole means he has no place in public education,” one protester told a reporter from WCNC-TV.
“How can you claim to serve — all students while publicly dehumanizing some of them? You cannot,” one speaker said, later adding. “Now let’s call it what it is — religious — bigotry.”
Calls for Kinlaw’s resignation first emerged from the Gaston County NAACP and Indivisible Gaston, WBTV reported. Kinlaw is up for reelection this year, according to multiple Charlotte-area media outlets.
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