Dave Macpherson: Mr James Casson files Code of Conduct complaint against me for calling him out over his recent statements
Dear Councillors & Maangai Maori
I’ve just been informed by Mayor Andrew King that Cr James Casson, who called for “extreme violence” against refugee “scum” has laid a formal ‘Code of Conduct’ complaint against ME for calling him out on his racist, pro-gun lobby comments; and for going on media & social media criticising him.
He has threatened the Council that if they don’t take action against me, he will complain to the Police about me harassing him.
I don’t bow down to bullying, and I won’t be quiet about his comments against refugees & immigrants and the Govt’s planned gun controls, or his other behaviour I’m hearing about.
His ‘apology’ to Councillor’s this morning was no apology, but rather a self-justification, explaining that he’d been hard done by, and his comments taken out of context.
No-one forced Mr Casson to write his offensive comments, but the fact he has done so over several years tells a story about the type of person he is, in my opinion.
It is an interesting commentary on our Council’s Code of Conduct that he has escaped ANY official censure, despite 8 formal complaints by the public against him, while he is demanding an independent investigator be bought in to investigate me for a so-called breach of the Code!
His actions merely confirm my personal view that Casson is unfit to be a Councillor, and also to be an Immigration NZ officer, dealing with the lives of vulnerable people.
This email is sent for your information. I have asked Mayor King for a copy of the complaint, and in the interests of transparency will be making that available when I have it to hand.
The issues I’m concerned about are
- –50 kiwis died, and dozens were injured, in a terrorist attack on 2 mosques in Christchurch by a racist, white supremacist; I and thousands of other kiwis have supported our muslim fellow community members since then – but Cr James Casson has criticised us for doing that, something I won’t accept;
- I, and many, many other kiwis (including our Prime Minister) have shed tears of pain and sadness over what happened in Christchurch – in our country! – but Cr James Casson explicitly criticises us for that, against something I don’t accept;
- The terrorist used military style semi-automatic weapons – that should have been banned long ago – which the Govt and Opposition now plan to ban; I and most of NZ support that ban, but Cr James Casson criticises us for doing so, something I don’t accept.
I am sorry for what has happened to our Muslim fellow kiwis, and I am sorry we did not call out the hate speechers and gun nuts a long time ago, to help prevent this sort of attack. I am not going to keep making that mistake.
Dave Macpherson is TDB’s mental health blogger. He became a Waikato DHB member after his son died from mental health incompetence.
Just to be correct on some details in this post, the many Christchurch terror attack victims had various nationalities, some were apparently also New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, others may only have been work visa or other visa type holders. They had various nationalities and forms of citizenship, at least:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111330922/foreigners-were-among-those-killed-in-christchurch-mosque-shooting
So if you call them all “Kiwis”, then you use a very generous, wide scope indeed.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/03/christchurch-terror-attack-the-identities-of-the-victims.html
But to some they may all be ‘Kiwis’ now, I suppose.
“His ‘apology’ to Councillor’s this morning was no apology, but rather a self-justification, explaining that he’d been hard done by, and his comments taken out of context.”
Looking at the photo of the man, he does not look that charming to me, perhaps a bit of a redneck.
As for his comments, is there a source where we can see in what ‘context’ he expressed the stuff he said?
So far he has only made a total di** of himself, by my honest opinion, but there are a few.
Could possibly be a Racist IMHO ?
Like the Australian Senator Anning, Casson is a disgrace, to put it mildly. He is a racist bully who does not deserve to be a councillor except maybe for some white supremacist group somewhere.
What is worse, he works for Immigration NZ. It is most unlikely he would have kept his toxic twisted thoughts to himself in that organisation but he remains there. What does that say about Immigration NZ?
As for lodging his complaint with the media council against Mr McPherson, it is pretty obvious that he is one of these people who lodge complaints against anyone that challenges them in a bid to silence them. Speak on Mr McPherson – expose this dreadful person for what he is.
Final message to Casson – in this country you have a basic right to express your opinion as sickening and vile as it is although your comments border on hate speech. Mr McPherson has the equal right to call you out as quite properly he has done so. Bully boys never succeed in the end, just look at Cameron Slater. You will not succeed.
Well expressed. Thank you.