Oregon: After it was discovered that the mayor of Newport, Oregon shared offensive memes on Facebook over a period of years, calls for his resignation from local activists and lawmakers resulted in his resignation.

A few days after a local media outlet discovered a lengthy list of disparaging social media posts in an online community for current and former police officers, some of which date back to 2016, Dean Sawyer announced his resignation and apologised. He would leave his position on Monday. 

In a written statement, he apologised in the most straightforward and sincere terms possible, claiming that his actions "were not protected by the First Amendment; they were stupid speech."

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Before being elected mayor in 2018, Sawyer worked as a career police officer for the Newport Police Department. He later referred to his Facebook posts as "vile and dark," adding, "I now realise that some of my actions and my words have hurt people I love and care about."

Sawyer allegedly "shared memes and posts denigrating women, immigrants, non-English speakers, and the LGBTQ+ community" in a Facebook group with more than 39,000 members, according to a report by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OBP) published last Friday. The page, titled "LEO Only," permits former officers to join but requests that members upload a copy of their law enforcement ID.

OBP claims that Sawyer posted a picture of some women in skimpy clothing along with the caption, "Strippers waiting for EMS to untangle the new girl's balls from the pole." The official reportedly also shared a picture of a journalist speaking with transgender swimmer and competitive swimmer Lia Thomas. "I won that woman's swim race fair and square," was the caption for the picture. "If they don't like it, they can suck my d**k."

According to reports, the civil servant also shared an image with the caption "Every girl wants to be carried off her feet. She only starts to panic when you put her in the trunk. 

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Five members of the Newport city council and LGBTQ+ activists protested over the weekend at the city hall to demand Sawyer's resignation in response to the report. Jason Malloy, the city's police chief, and Curtis Landers, the sheriff of Lincoln County, both criticised his social media posts. 

City councillor Dietmar Goebel said, "We made it very clear to Dean that he needed to resign and get the hell out of government. He couldn't go any further because his posting was unacceptable.

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Although Sawyer claimed in his resignation letter that the posts "do not reflect my values," he insisted that he must stop because "my online persona has become too polarising for me to continue." He stated that he hoped his choice would "hasten the process of healing for the uproar I have caused."

The matter is now on the agenda for the upcoming council meeting later this month. Until local officials can name a replacement, Newport's acting mayor will be City Council President Jan Kaplan.