Mr Close allegedly suggested people would be able to kill Muslims under the presidency of Donald Trump
(
Reuters
)
A US teacher has been condemned after posts on his Facebook page called for people to vote for Donald Trump so Muslims would be “butchered”.
The publicly available posts on an account in the name of Dan Close, a history teacher and athletics coach at Dewey High School in Oklahoma, included a series of rants in which Islam was described as a “death cult” and same-sex marriage as “a sin against nature”.
One of the posts, which have since been deleted, was responding to a terror attack and allegedly said: “Another Islam attack. Happy Ramadan to everyone. Death cult.
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"Vote for Clinton if you want to appease the dog pigs. Vote Trump if you want them butchered. Happy Ramadan to all infidels.”
America had “spit in the face of God, Jesus and the Laws of Nature” by legalising same-sex marriage and the “Gaystapo” were running the country, the posts added, according to Buzzfeed News.
The messages were sent several years ago and were public until complaints were made in November 2016.
A former pupil of Mr Close – who is a friend of his on Facebook and who wished to remain anonymous, said it had been clear that Mr Close was right-wing.
“I knew his political leaning and there was definitely a bias in that he made it very clear which political side he was on," he said.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.”
AFP/Getty Images
2/18 On Senator McCain
“He’s not a war hero... He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Getty Images
3/18 On Megyn Kelly
“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”
AFP/Getty Images
4/18 On Vladimir Putin
“He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country.”
Getty Images
5/18 On his popularity
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
AFP/Getty Images
6/18 On torture
"I would bring back waterboarding and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding."
Getty Images
7/18 On his body
“Look at those hands, are they small hands? And, [Republican rival Marco Rubio] referred to my hands: ‘If they’re small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”
AFP/Getty Images
8/18 On president Obama
“He is the founder of Isis.”
Getty Images
9/18 On the Second Amendment
"Hillary wants to abolish — essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know."
AFP/Getty Images
10/18 On Hilary Clinton's emails
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
AFP/Getty Images
11/18 On sexual assault
In a statement regarding the release of a 2005 video in which he can be heard boasting about sexual assault:
“This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course.”
Getty Images
12/18 On tax loopholes
"I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from."
AFP/Getty Images
13/18 On his accuser
“Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you.”
Getty Images
14/18 On Hillary Clinton
“Such a nasty woman”
Getty Images
15/18 On his pro-life stance
“Based on what she's saying ... you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day, and that's unacceptable”
Getty Images
16/18 On his accusers
"Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
Getty Images
17/18 On the 'rigged' election system
“I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election — if I win.”
Getty Images
18/18 On Hillary Clinton
“I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Getty Images
1/18 On Mexicans
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.”
AFP/Getty Images
2/18 On Senator McCain
“He’s not a war hero... He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Getty Images
3/18 On Megyn Kelly
“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”
AFP/Getty Images
4/18 On Vladimir Putin
“He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country.”
Getty Images
5/18 On his popularity
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
AFP/Getty Images
6/18 On torture
"I would bring back waterboarding and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding."
Getty Images
7/18 On his body
“Look at those hands, are they small hands? And, [Republican rival Marco Rubio] referred to my hands: ‘If they’re small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”
AFP/Getty Images
8/18 On president Obama
“He is the founder of Isis.”
Getty Images
9/18 On the Second Amendment
"Hillary wants to abolish — essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know."
AFP/Getty Images
10/18 On Hilary Clinton's emails
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
AFP/Getty Images
11/18 On sexual assault
In a statement regarding the release of a 2005 video in which he can be heard boasting about sexual assault:
“This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course.”
Getty Images
12/18 On tax loopholes
"I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from."
AFP/Getty Images
13/18 On his accuser
“Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you.”
Getty Images
14/18 On Hillary Clinton
“Such a nasty woman”
Getty Images
15/18 On his pro-life stance
“Based on what she's saying ... you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day, and that's unacceptable”
Getty Images
16/18 On his accusers
"Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
Getty Images
17/18 On the 'rigged' election system
“I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election — if I win.”
Getty Images
18/18 On Hillary Clinton
“I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Getty Images
The posts first came to light when a retired teacher from Oklahoma City, Paula Washington, reported them to the local public school system’s superintendent, Vince Vincent.
She told Buzzfeed: “I told him how objectionable it was. I told him how a teacher has an obligation to express facts — especially a history teacher, to teach facts without opinion.
“The vitriol and the complete hatred that he had shown on his Facebook page had not only been seen by his students, but students all over the country.
“Had it not been associated with his work, I would support his First Amendment rights, but I also know he represents the educational system for which he works, and I couldn’t mesh the two."
She said Mr Vincent had been “respectful” about the matter but regarded it as a freedom of speech issue.
Mr Vincent told The Independent the school did not wish to comment on the matter but did say they were “aware of the story” and were “continuing to investigate the situation”.
The Independent has contacted Mr Close for comment.
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The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates.