A New Braunfels Fire Department lieutenant has been placed on leave over allegations he referred to Muslims as “pigs” and “scumbags” in social media posts about Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood mass shooter scheduled to die by firing squad.
The City of New Braunfels put Lt. John Weige on leave Monday morning after officials became aware of the posts, City Manager Robert Camareno said in an emailed statement. The city is investigating and will take further action based on “applicable personnel policies, federal law and Civil Service rules,” according to the statement.
“The city is aware of the social media posts and shares our community’s concerns,” Camareno added. “Those posts do not reflect the values or positions of the New Braunfels Fire Department or the City of New Braunfels.”
A city spokeswoman declined to offer more details about Weige’s leave, saying official policy prohibits deeper discussion of personnel issues.
While Weige’s Facebook account is no longer publicly available, screenshots obtained by the Current show that the account published a series of comments about White House plans to livestream Hasan’s execution.
One of those asks if others want to “watch party” for the livestream while dining on barbecued pork. “Let’s make it everything the scumbag Muslims hate,” adds the post, which includes the hashtags “muslimsscumofearth” and “getthemallout.”
Islamic dietary laws prohibit the consumption of pork.
“Muslims are pigs,” a separate post from Weige’s account states.
“F all you crying heart liberals,” another post about the execution reads. “You all will burn in hell one day. Anti American [sic] pieces of shit.”
Hasan, a former Army major, was convicted more than a decade ago for the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood that killed 13 people and wounded 32 more. He’s scheduled to die by firing squad at the same Army installation on Dec. 3.
Last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made a widely decried announcement that his department will livestream the execution, potentially making Hasan the first person publicly executed in the United States in almost a century.
Texas politics is a mess. We make it a readable mess.
Sign up for San Antonio Current’s new “Texas Politics This Week” newsletter.
Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
