California City Worker Quits Over ‘Prolific’ Anti-Semitic Website
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A recently hired administrative coordinator in California was forced to resign from his municipal job after his supervisors learned that he ran an anti-Semitic website which lauded Adolf Hitler and blamed the Israeli government for the 9/11 attack on the New York Trade Center.
John Friend, 29, was hired three months ago by the Escondido city manager’s office for administrative work that included supervision of the support staff. Escondido is a small city north of San Diego.
City Manager Clay Phillips told the San Diego Union-Tribune, he was unaware of Friend’s virulent anti-Semitism until a reporter asked him about the new hire’s background. Friend, who said he was called in and given the option to step down or be fired, resigned on Sept. 9.
A prolific blogger and contributor to several white supremacist publications, Friend told a San Diego reporter that he finds “inspiration and guidance from… white Christian patriots,” such as Hitler and his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels.
On his website, Friend also claimed that the Holocaust was made up by the “Jewish-dominated media.”
In an email, Friend said he didn’t list any of his writings or website work on his resume or in his job interview, but neither did he try to conceal his views.
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