Ag Commish takes down FB post about Muslims



The actual statistics on Texas' Muslim population. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller shared this image on Facebook that seems to call for the nuclear bombing of the Muslim world.

The actual statistics on Texas' Muslim population. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller shared this image on Facebook that seems to call for the nuclear bombing of the Muslim world. Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Ag Commish takes down FB post about Muslims 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN - A Facebook post shared from Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller's official Facebook page was removed Monday, his staff said, soon after the meme featuring the detonation of an atomic bomb and a message suggesting "the Muslim world" should face the same fate went viral on social media."

"Japan has been at peace with the U.S. since August 9, 1945. It's time we made peace with the Muslim world," stated the original post, which features the hashtags #noislamknowpeace and #COMETAKE and what appears to be a photograph of the 1957 nuclear bomb tests in Nevada.

The photograph and message originally was posted by a Facebook page called "The Patriot's IV Drip 2." The page's one line description says, "We do not agree with Obama and his political views. We ban trolls;" it has posted memes such as one of a baby with a raised fist proclaiming, "Hang in there whitey!" and another of women garbed in burkas swimming at the beach that says, "Please don't throw trash into our oceans."

Miller's page shared the post around 5 p.m. on Sunday, but removed the post about 11:15 a.m. Monday.

Reached for comment mid-Monday, Miller's special assistant Luke Bullock said the post was made without the commissioner's knowledge by a staffer who does not work for the state agency.

"It was an error by a staffer. The posting did not reflect the views of Commissioner Miller and as a result it's been removed," Bullock said, calling the post "inappropriate." He added Miller "will ensure that future postings do not reflect views that do not align with his view."

Later Monday, however, Miller's campaign spokesman Todd Smith called the Chronicle because he thought it needed "a little bit of clarity."

"I don't know if it reflects the view of Commissioner Miller or not. He's on a trip to China," said Smith, referring to the 11-day trade mission from which Miller will return on August 23.

"He has not made any bones about where he stands on the issue of radical Islamic terrorism and we're not going to be creating a witch-hunt or doing anything to find out who posted it. And I think it was a powerful post that caused people to stop and think about the current state of the world."

Before it was removed, Miller's shared post had received 2,232 likes and more than 300 comments. Most of the comments agreed with Miller's post with only one or two users disagreeing or stating that using atomic weapons would be a step too far.

"24 empty missile tubes, a mushroom cloud and now it's Miller time!" wrote a user named Michael Linder. Betty Miller wrote, "Time to drop another one but make sure that Obama,Clinton and Kerry are present."

"You're wrong on this 1Sid !" wrote David Oster, one of the few users that disagreed with the post.

Japan marked the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki earlier this month. At least 130,000 people died from the initial blast and acute affects in the first few months after the bombings, which took place on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945.

This is not the first time Miller has been tied to controversial remarks about Muslims. At a Texas Public Policy Foundation forum in January, Miller said he was kept up at night over "long-range concerns as I hold those two grandbabies on my lap. I have to wonder, when they have grandbabies to hold in their lap, will we be a socialist country? Will we be a Muslim country? Are we doing enough?"

That same month, Rep. Molly White, R-Belton, posted a message on Facebook that said any Muslim constituents who visited her office on Muslim Capitol Day would be asked "to renounce Islamic terrorist groups and publicly announce allegiance to America and our laws."

Muslim Capitol Day, which had gone largely unnoticed in Austin since it was first held in 2003, was upended this year by a handful of angry protesters outside the building who shouted "We don't want you here!" and "ISIS will gladly take you!" at the gathered Muslim Texans who gave speeches and sang the national anthem.

White later said her remarks were not meant to be incendiary, while adding if she had been there, she "would have asked them if they would renounce terrorism."

Reporter Joshua Fechter contributed to this report.