DHS Official Resigns After Past Racist Comments Resurface

A Department of Homeland Security official resigned this week after racially inflammatory comments that he made on radio appearances prior to being appointed to the post were revealed in a CNN report.

Rev. Jamie Johnson was appointed to head the faith-based and neighborhood partnerships at the Department of Homeland Security by then DHS Secretary John Kelly in April 2017. Audio recordings posted by CNN showed that Johnson made the comments between 2008 and as recently as 2016.

In one radio appearance from 2008 posted by CNN, Johnson said "it's an indictment of America's black community that has turned America's major cities into slums because of laziness, drug use and sexual promiscuity." He also agreed with a guest on the radio show that the success of Jewish-Americans removed the argument of "victimization" from the black community.

Johnson also said that terrorists who act in the name of Islam represented the true meaning of the religion, according to CNN, saying that he doesn't call it radical Islam but "obedient Islam and faithful Islam."

“Acting Secretary Duke has accepted Rev. Jamie Johnson’s resignation as Director of the Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships at DHS," a DHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "His comments made prior to joining the Department of Homeland Security clearly do not reflect the values of DHS and the administration. The Department thanks him for his recent work assisting disaster victims and the interfaith community.”

The Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships at DHS was created in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, to help emergency managers effectively engage with a broader cross-section of faith and community-based organizations, according to the DHS.

Prior to joining DHS, Johnson was a fixture in Republican politics in Iowa where he served as a GOP state committeeman and worked for presidential candidates Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Donald Trump in the state, according to CNN.

Read the full CNN report here.

Photo via FEMA