The Groveland City Council on Monday suspended one of its own, Councilwoman Judith Fike, over racially charged and apparently anti-gay social media posts dating back to 2015.
Fike’s tweets and Facebook posts were reported by the Clermont Sun. The newspaper also published a statement in which Fike, who is in the middle of an election, said she took responsibility for her words and apologized to "anyone who was hurt by them."
That included Vice Mayor Barbara Gaines, who is African American. She denounced what she called "vile and disgusting social media comments" and called for Fike's resignation.
“I feel personally hurt by the comments that were made and the disgrace coming from my fellow council member,” she said during lengthy remarks. “Racism is not an opinion, it's a problem. It breeds intense and persistent feelings of hate that consist of fear, dislike, hostility towards people and groups.”
Gaines read from several posts attributed to Fike, including one in which former President Barack Obama was depicted as an ape. Fike later said her words had been altered in all of them.
Gaines cited another post that followed the Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando. In it, she said Fike argued it would have been easier to push the victims’ off the roof.
“Who does that? Who does that?” Gaines asked.
Fike said the post was really about a political candidate and people in the Middle East “who were currently pushing gay individuals off of buildings. … And it was meant as a support of the community.”
Gaines, along with Mayor Keith Keogh and Councilwoman Amy Jo Carroll voted to schedule a special meeting, suspend Fike until then and hire a private investigator to look into the matter.
