Washington State Prosecutor Denounces Wife's Racist Facebook Posts About Muslims
A Washington state prosecutor insisted this week this his wife’s racist views on Muslims would have no impact on how he handled his cases.
In a series of recent Facebook posts, the wife of Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell reportedly complained about “white guilt,” and said that Muslims could not be trusted.
“I do not trust muzlims no matter what,” Lesley Haskell reportedly wrote.
In another post, Lesley Haskell responded to a YouTube video of a Texas woman being rude to a Muslim woman by saying, “Oh my god, I love her! That’s exactly what I would do.”
Many of the comments were reportedly posted to the “Chicks On The Right” Facebook page.
Larry Haskell told KHQ that he did not agree with his wife’s views.
“Any of us that have spouses know we disagree on a lot of things,” Larry Haskell explained. “We don’t frequently vote for the same candidates, we don’t vote for the same issues. We don’t necessarily agree on a given situation about the kids.”
“I do not police my wife’s online activity,” he continued. “I can’t speak for my wife but I do apologize to the community for the angst this has caused. My spouse’s comments do not reflect my views and they don’t reflect the views of this office.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aine Ahmed, who is Muslim, pointed out that the comments were “dangerous because people who are uneducated and don’t know Muslims take it for face value then people think its acceptable.”
Liz Moore, president of the Peace and Action Justice League of Spokane, argued that it was fair to question Larry Haskell over his wife’s remarks.
“I don’t want to assume that anyone’s spouse speaks for them,” Moore said. “I think it’s fair that it raises questions. If I were a member of the Islamic faith, this would make me have questions about how I would be treated or perceived.”
For his part, Larry Haskell said that he understood why people would be concerned, but he insisted that he treated everyone fairly.
“The law doesn’t distinguish between them. I have never distinguished between them and I won’t allow this office to treat anybody any differently than anybody else.”
Watch the video below from KHQ, broadcast March 4, 2015.
