Ex-mayor accused of sharing ‘vile, racist’ material after post on his Facebook page compares black people to monkeys

South Wales councillor claims post was ‘not meant as an insult to black people’, after initially claiming his Facebook account was hacked

Councillor Peter Kraus, ex-mayor of Pembroke Dock Town Council (Pembroke Dock Town Council)

The former mayor of a town in south Wales has been accused of sharing “vile, racist stuff” after one of his Facebook posts appeared to compare black protesters to monkeys.

A composite photo making a comparison between a group of African-Americans surrounding a US police car and baboons surrounding a car at a safari park was shared on the social media site by the account of Councillor Peter Kraus.

The independent politician, who serves on Pembroke Dock Town Council, initially claimed his Facebook page had been “hacked” and someone else had posted on his timeline.

However, he later defended the image in an interview with his local newspaper the Western Telegraph and claimed he did not mean to “insult” black people. “The point I was making was that we are worse than animals,” he said.

Referring to recent Black Lives Matter protests, he added: “It is bad enough with this pandemic without all these crazy things that are going on everywhere. It was not meant as an insult to black people.”

Mr Kraus, the former mayor of Pembroke Dock, earlier told the MailOnline someone else was responsible for the post. “I don’t know how I was hacked,” he said.

“All I know is I had a thing from the town council to say about this picture on there which I never even put on. That’s how it is.”

He added: “It must have been posted to my timeline because the town clerk phoned me and said “What the hell is going on?” I’ve got lots and lots and lots of friends who are, black, white, and you name it as well, all over the world.”

Fellow town councillor Joshua Beynon shared with The Independent a screengrab of the offending image on Mr Kraus’ Facebook timeline and said he had reported Mr Kraus’ post to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

“When I saw it on [Mr Kraus’] page and I was shocked and disgusted,” said the Labour councillor, who has also shared the photo with the ombudsman.

“Unfortunately it goes to show the kind of vile, racist stuff being shared online. It’s 2020 and we have to do a whole lot better than this.”

Mr Beynon, 22, recently campaigned for purple lights to illuminate the Pembrokeshire town in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests.

The Independent has contacted Mr Kraus for comment.