Auckland Peace Action member Azad Khan has today initiated a petition to demand that James Casson be held accountable for his racist hate speech against Muslims.

LINK TO PETITION

“James Casson is an immigration officer and a Hamilton City Councillor. His racist and Islamophobic remarks should not be tolerated by anyone and have no place in our society, especially as they come from the holder of a public office and a member of the public service,” said Mr Khan.

In 2016, James Casson referred to the Muslim refugees in Europe as "scum". His full social media comment was that it is "time to get hard, time for retribution, and extreme violence to rid Europe of these scum". In recent days, he has said New Zealanders should stop mourning the victims of Christchurch terrorist attack and police should stop guarding the mosques. (Link to quote here.)

As a country, we are still mourning and coming to terms with the massacre of 50 Muslims by a white supremacist terrorist in Christchurch

The petition demands:

• James Casson should be removed from his employment as an immigration officer immediately.
• That judicial reviews are undertaken of all the cases under his jurisdiction
• That he is removed from his position on the Hamilton City Council and
• He undertakes human rights and anti-racism training

“His comments are hate speech; they dehumanise, vilify and put down Muslims who make Hamilton and New Zealand their home”

Mr Khan said, “we look forward to this petition being supported by people of goodwill around the country who want to take action to ensure that such acts of racism have no room in our society. Thank you.”