Roseville Protesters Call For Board Member's Resignation Over Anti-Muslim Facebook Posts

Protesters in Roseville called for the resignation of a longtime school board member over alleged bigoted posts he made online.

In the cross hairs is Roseville School Board Vice President Alfredo Francesconi following a series of Facebook posts that many residents say were racist against Muslims. There were chants of "Alfredo must go" outside the Monday night Board of Education meeting.

Although Francesconi declined comment following the meeting, Roseville School Board President Theresa Genest offered this comment.

"We've talked to him and that's the best we can do right now," she said, adding that the board can't make him stop.

According to the Macomb Daily, Francesconi posted a series of anti-Muslim and anti-African American posts on his Facebook page, including one on Nov. 19 that claimed there have been no Jewish or Christian terrorist attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, and 26,855 Islamic terrorist attacks since 9-11. "Not all religions are the same" the meme proclaims.

A second meme he posted the same day shows a photo of the former Twin Towers in New York burning with the words, "How did we go from this to being afraid of offending Muslims?"

Another meme on his page shows a Kid Rock wearing a T-shirt that describes "blue" states that supported Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as the "Dumbf—istan" part of America. Another post complains about "whining Hillary" and urges people to share it with a "whining liberal."

Several Roseville residents say they will continue to call for Francesconi's resignation.

"It's extremely disheartening to see that you have encouraged this type of behavior," one resident told the board.

Another said: "This perpetuation of ignorance is abhorrent."

One resident added, "He has said that it's OK for anyone with a racist opinion to come out and bully someone else that isn't like them."

Someone on his Facebook page urged him to remember that Italians were once "subjected to the same hate and bigotry."