SUWANEE, GA — A candidate for city council in Suwanee is denying that he is a racist after his controversial posts on Twitter — many referring to Jews and Israel — were brought to light.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Joe Briggs, a 59-year-old engineer challenging incumbent Beth Hilscher for the city's Post 4 seat , tweeted that Zionists — backers of an independent Jewish state in Israel — are "cockroaches." In another he wrote the words "zionists in Israel far worse than anything described in Mein Kampf," referring to Adolf Hitler's book about his political and social ideals. "Get the Jews out of the White House and out of POTUS' ear," he wrote in another, according to the AJC.

Another said: "The problem is that Jews don't care about racism — because they are racist. They only care about racism directed towards them." Another described slavery in the United States as "cheap labor for big business. Like diamond mines and NAFTA." Briggs' Twitter account is protected, meaning it can only be followed by users he approves. But, the AJC reported, his tweets came to light when the wife of a current Suwanee council member, Dick Goodman, who is Jewish, posted about them on online community site NextDoor.

Her post came roughly a week before the Nov. 7 municipal elections. In an email to the AJC, Briggs denied being anti-Semitic, but said he is anti-Israel.

"I'm absolutely not racist in the very least," Briggs said to the paper.



He said he believes his message about limiting development in Suwanee is catching on with voters and that his social media posts were surfaced in an effort to derail his momentum.