A county Republican Party in North Texas is facing public backlash after one of its precinct chairs asked a potential justice-of-the-peace nominee whether he could train a police dog to bite Muslims.
Last week, Joshua Gallardo — who considered seeking the Republican nomination for Young County Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 — withdrew from consideration after being asked the question during an interview by a member of the Young County Republican Committee, Wichita Falls TV station KAUZ reports.
Gallardo, who had experience as a K-9 handler for the Young County Sheriff’s Office, described the question as unethical and unprofessional and told the CBS affiliate that he’ll run as a write-in candidate rather than seek the GOP nomination.
“I’ve spent my whole career, you know, I don’t care what someone looks like, what they believe in; they should get treated the same,” Gallardo said. “And … I didn’t believe in it, and I just was not a fan of it and didn’t want to be a part of it.”
Lane Burgess, chairman of the Young County Republican Party, confirmed to KAUZ that a party precinct chair asked the question, which he called a mistake. However, Burgess declined to identify the person, and he accused Gallardo of going public about the incident to win sympathy from voters.
“One of our precinct chairs made the comment, ‘Well, do you think that dog could be trained on some of these Muslims and bite them?’” Burgess told the station.
The Texas chapter of civil rights group the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on the Republican Party of Texas and the Young County Republican Party to apologize for the question.
“Suggesting that a law-enforcement dog should be trained to attack people because they are Muslim is not a political disagreement or a harmless mistake — it is an appalling expression of anti-Muslim bigotry,” CAIR Texas Government Affairs and Legislative Manager Sameeha Rizvi said in an emailed statement.
“The Republican Party of Texas and the Young County Republican Party should unequivocally condemn this conduct, apologize to Muslim Texans, and make clear that religious identity has no place in determining who deserves equal protection under the law,” Rizvi added.
The incident comes as Texas’ Republican elected officials, from Gov. Greg Abbott to U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, have amped up anti-Muslim rhetoric, often accompanied by false claims that Sharia law is in danger of taking hold in the United States.
During June’s Republican Party of Texas convention, outgoing GOP chair Abraham George admonished two Muslim delegates from the stage, urging them to sever their ties with the party.
“I would strongly advise you to leave our caucus,” George said. “There is a Democrat convention happening in a couple weeks. Join them.”
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