Aaron Wilson, Posey County councilman. Staff file photo by Molly Bartels
MOUNT VERNON — A Posey County Council member has stirred concerns with an alleged Facebook post saying he would not condemn Wednesday's violent storming of the U.S. Capitol and calling for more violence.
Posey County Republican Chairman Greg Newman said he had no plans to call for the resignation of Aaron Wilson, an At-Large county council member who was re-elected to a second term in November.
Newman said he had left a phone message for Wilson but had not spoken to him about the post.
The Courier & Press also has left messages for Wilson at both his workplace and personal phone, which Wilson has not yet returned.
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Wilson, who works at a family-run auction business in New Harmony, appears to have removed the post which he reportedly made sometime Wednesday following the events at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
The Courier & Press obtained a copy of the screenshot from several sources.
However, it didn't take long for it to reverberate through Indiana's southwestern-most county.
Posey County Democratic Party Chairman Ed Adams said he shared the post with Prosecutor Thomas Clowers and the Election Division of the Indiana Secretary of State's office but had not made any formal complaints.
"My phone and texts have just been blowing up with people wanting to remove him," Adams said. "This has got people so riled up that they are already coming out of the woodwork asking about running against him in four years."
Among the statements in the alleged post shared by Adams were:
"I say we storm the capital again next week! These lying, cheating, no-good politicians need to learn that the only reason we've had peace in this country for many years is because we've had elected leaders willing to put their party and their ethics above themselves. I do not believe this is the last of the violence we will see and the spineless nincompoops in Washington, D.C. have no one to blame but themselves!"
Clowers said he has not received any formal complaints about it.
Adams called the storming of the Capitol Building by supporters of President Donald Trump on Wednesday "a black day."
"We don't condone any kind of violence. Peaceful protest is our right, but we do not have the right to destroy property," Adams said. "I hope and pray that was it (for the violence)."
Adams said that as party chairman he would not condone such comments among local Democrats.
"I would be having a very serious face-to-face discussion with an individual like that," he said.
GOP chairman Newman took a more measured response and defended Wilson.
"Any type of violence on either side of the political spectrum is not acceptable, certainly not what happened at the Capitol," Newman said. "I truly believe he would not be advocating violence despite some of the phrases used there. He has worked hard to advance Posey County on things like the sewer project and highspeed internet."
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