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A South Whitehall Township commissioner is apologizing for what he called an “ill-conceived comment” about supporters of President Donald Trump, but says he will not resign despite calls from members of the public to do so.
Mobilio called the action “a disgrace” and wrote, “If you support [Trump] you are also a disgrace and should be hung for treason,” according to a screenshot of the post reviewed by The Morning Call.
Mobilio removed the post from his personal page Tuesday morning and apologized with a statement on his professional page, saying the comment “should not have been made.”
But he also called the wide sharing of a screenshot of the comment a “partisan political ploy to get me to resign,” and said he would not do so.
Many members of the public commented on the post, with several criticizing the commissioner and calling on him to resign.
“It is not a political ploy,” Ed Frack wrote. “You should resign. Your comment does not and should not reflect the South Whitehall Township community.”
Mobilio, a Democrat elected to the board in November 2019 and an attorney with Mobilio Wood law firm, said in an interview with The Morning Call Wednesday that he regrets making the comment, calling it a “very poor choice of words.” Much of his work has to do with racial discrimination claims, he explained, so the outcry over George Floyd’s death and resulting fallout hit home.
“I 100% regret what I said,” he said. “It came from a place of deep concern, deep emotional impact on me.”
Since making the apology, Mobilio said he’s received threats through Facebook and calls to both of his offices. He characterizes the backlash he’s seen as partisan — coming mostly from Trump supporters — whereas his work for the township is nonpartisan.
“My work for the township is not done; my work for the township is not political,” he said.
Thus, even if other commissioners call on him to resign, he said, he will not.
“Under no circumstances will I resign from this position,” he said. “I am fully dedicated to this job.”
Nearly 100 members of the public attended Wednesday’s Board of Commissioners virtual meeting. At the outset, board president Christina “Tori” Morgan made a statement addressing Mobilio’s Facebook post, saying it does not represent the views of South Whitehall Township as a municipal agency.
But she said the board will not pass judgment on Mobilio’s choice to express a viewpoint as a private citizen, nor would Wednesday’s meeting be a referendum on his office.
“Mr. Mobilio can speak for himself if and when he chooses to do so,” she said. “Removal from office is something entirely beyond the authority of the township board.”
Mobilio followed with a statement of his own, reiterating his intention not to resign over what he perceives as politically motivated backlash.
“If it’s your intent to use this forum to encourage me to resign, then I’m afraid this meeting will leave you sorely disappointed,” he said. “I will not resign today, I will not resign tomorrow, I will not resign next week.”
Mobilio’s Facebook post is “absolutely protected by the First Amendment,” said Ken Paulson, director of the The Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.
“In fact, the Supreme Court has said that comments about politics have the greatest First Amendment protection,” he said.
He classified Mobilio’s treason accusation as clear hyperbole, noting that Trump has made comments of similar caliber toward political rivals.
“That noted, the First Amendment protects us from the government, but not from a backlash from constituents or the community,” he said. “Free speech is a two-way street.”
This is particularly pertinent for elected officials, who are held politically accountable by voters for both official and unofficial conduct, which includes private speech, Brooklyn Law School professor William Araiza explained.
“Elected officials [and candidates for those offices] have a First Amendment right to speak, but voters/constituents retain the authority to impose political costs — up to and including pressure to resign — if they utter speech that that community considers unacceptable,” he wrote in an email.
Indeed, before their allotted time to speak, constituents flooded the chat box of the virtual meeting condemning Mobilio’s comment as threatening and asking for his resignation, despite repeated requests from Morgan to save their input for the courtesy of the floor.
“You should resign immediately,” said Sean LaSalle, a local real estate agent. “You can not represent anyone if you threaten them.”
“Unfortunately, he made a statement that very clearly demonstrated his stance regarding politics, and made a statement purely out of emotion. Now he is apologetic, which is appreciated. However, the damage is done,” Andrew David wrote. “I do not believe that he can justly carry his position out to the fullest extent of his duties, and the calling to have people hung is terrifying.”
Whether Mobilio’s comment violates Facebook’s community standards is unclear. The company says it removes posts that pose “direct threats to public safety,” while considering context to distinguish credible threats from casual statements.
“While we understand that people commonly express disdain or disagreement by threatening or calling for violence in nonserious ways, we remove language that incites or facilitates serious violence,” the company writes.
Morning Call reporter Kayla Dwyer can be reached at 610-820-6554 or at kdwyer@mcall.com.