NPCA rep says he shared 'troublesome' Facebook post about terrorism by accident

Hamilton's mayorsays a "troublesome" Facebook post shared by the vice-chair of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA)claiming the "laws" of 9/11 terrorists are beingadaptedin the United States does not represent the city's views.

On New Year's Day James Kaspersetz, one of the city's two current representatives on theboard, shared a Dec. 7 Facebook post by an American man named Jetty Mills, saying "77 years after Pearl Harbor it still hurts, but 17 years after 9/11 we are moving them here and adapting their laws in places."

It's not totally clear who the word "them" in the post refers to, but it seems to suggest Muslims orimmigrants from Middle Eastern countries.

The actual terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001attacks that killed thousands in New York City, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania died in plane crashes. Islamic law has not been adopted in the United States.

Kaspersetztold CBChe shared the post in error then had trouble deleting it, leaving it up on his profile for more than 16 hours.

Less than 10 minutes after being contacted by CBC News on Wednesday,Kaspersetzsaid he had managed to delete the post.

Hate has no place in Hamilton

In a statement emailed to CBC News, Mayor Fred Eisenbergersaid combating hate continues to be a challenge in Hamilton and residents are encouraged to stand up against discrimination.

"The views expressed by this city appointee are troublesome and do not reflect the City of Hamilton's views," he added."We have shared this individual's comments with the city clerk."

When reached by phone Wednesday, Kaspersetzconfirmed the posthad been shared on his profile andprovided a series of sometimes conflicting explanations about how it ended up on his page and why it took so long to delete it, citing issues with his eyes and inconsistent access toWiFi.

"I never said this was the kind of thing I supported. It got shared accidentally," he said.

Kaspersetz said he is currently in the Dominican Republic with family and that it was "very difficult for me to take things down from here, I'm not sure why."

However activityon his profileshows he had did have access to Facebook while away and wasposting other articles and videos even after sharing the problematic post.

Board member says he tried to delete post

The phone call dropped, but when CBC News reached himagain 10 minutes later, Kaspersetz said he had just figured out how to delete the post.

"You have to understand here, I have one eye. I had an ocular stroke back in August so I basically look at my computer with one eye closed, one eye open," he explained, adding WiFiwhere he was staying was unreliable and he was only on Facebook sporadically during his time away.

Kaspersetzsaid he came across the post on his Facebook news feed and tried to unfriend or unfollowthe person who published it, but accidentally shared it on his profile instead.

There's no excuse for it.-Ward 11 Coun. Brenda Johnson

He first said he had tried to delete it, but gave up and didn't think about it again until contacted by CBC News.

Later in the interview he said he had "no idea it was posted for that long" becauseheactually believed he had successfully deleted it shortly after it was shared on his profile.

"I thought I had deleted it and that was it, but possibly with the internet down here, uh, it didn't really become an issue until a few moments ago when you called me," he explained."This is a third-world country. Not everyone is plugged into the internet 24/7."

When asked what message he meant to convey by sharing the post, Kaspersetzwould only sayhe was "uncomfortable" having that type of material on his profile and allowed it was "unfortunate" it had been up for so long.

"I don't appreciate those kinds of things."

Later that day, the privacy settings on Kaspersetz's Facebook page were changed,hidingmost of his posts.

Councillor 'glad he took it down'

Hamilton councillor Brenda Johnson is one of two elected officials who will represent Hamilton, along with two citizens,on the NPCA board after pushing to double its number of seats in 2019.

• Hamilton heads for showdown with Niagara over seats on conservation authority board

She said she had not personally seen the post shared by Kaspersetz, but when it was described to her said it did not represent her opinion or the opinion of her colleagues on council.

"I don't want to say that just because he's a City of Hamilton representative on the NPCA that he represents the City of Hamilton's opinion," she said. "I'm glad he took it down. In no way or shape does it reflect our opinions, our thoughts and what we've done for inclusion.

"There's no excuse for it."