Exclusive: CBS 58 sits down with New Berlin mayor following anti-Muslim social media posts
NEW BERLIN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The mayor of New Berlin is under fire after Muslim community leaders say he shared posts they consider Islamophobic, and they're demanding an apology, or his resignation.
CBS 58’s Duaa Israr went directly to the mayor's office to ask him about it.
“Hi, I’m with CBS 58. I just wanted to ask you a couple questions about some posts that you’ve made on social media, recently.”
That was the first thing we said to Mayor David Ament, and what followed was a conversation about what an elected official chooses to put on social media and if reposting something makes him responsible for the message.
“It's like reposting other things. It's just for informational, you know, to let people know what's being discussed out there and some of the issues,” said Ament.
Ament’s personal Facebook page, which is public to all viewers, has hundreds of reposts, one calling for the ban of Islam, another calling those who vote for Muslims “traitors.”
Those posts have been removed following our interview.
“This is your Facebook page, right? Right here?” Israr asked.
“Yeah, it's just for informational,” said Ament.
“What is informational about this?” Israr asked.
“It's stuff that I get. Also, people hear whatever side of the story. There's other ones that are the other way as well,” said Ament.
Members of the Muslim community who saw the posts say the content was Islamophobic, and they were concerned about the message coming from the mayor of a city.
“Bringing racist comments about specific groups of people is just not acceptable,” said Janan Najeeb, the executive director of the Muslim Women’s Coalition.
We asked Ament directly.
“We've received some tips from constituents who feel that this is Islamophobic.”
“That's their opinion,” he said.
Najeeb says Ament should be held to a higher standard.
“I don't think any elected official has a private space. I think that that really represents who they are, and when people elect someone, they elect the whole person,” said Najeeb.
Ament has served as New Berlin's mayor since 2013 and was re-elected to a fourth term in 2025.
"I'm a citizen that wants to share information,” said Ament.
Najeeb believes Ament owes the New Berlin Muslim community an apology and is calling for his resignation.
“Mitigate the damage that has been done and to prevent this from happening again, and if not, then again, we are calling for his resignation. This is just absolutely horrific and unacceptable,” said Najeeb.