Warning: This story contains offensive images and language.
A Winnipeg city council candidate says he takes full responsibility for posting misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic content on social media a decade ago and wants voters to know he’s changed.
Omar Kinarat, a community organizer running to unseat incumbent councilor Cindy Gilroy in Daniel McIntyre’s downtown Winnipeg ward, said he is a better person than he was from 2011 to 2014, when he tweeted, including derogatory references to women, gays and Jews.
Although those posts have been deleted, the screenshots continue to circulate on social media.
Kinarath says he takes responsibility for his actions, retracts his own statements and understands the harm he has caused.
“It’s not right to talk like that. You know, you hurt people when you talk like that or express those things, and I’m just trying to learn from the people around me and become better and more sensitive.” he said in an interview earlier this week.
“I just want people – the voters and the general public – to understand that I’m a real person. I am not like the typical politician who tries to hide or avoid such things. I really come face to face with these things. “
These screenshots show long-deleted tweets from Omar Kinarat, who is now running for city council. (OmarX204/Twitter)
Kinarath said toxic masculinity played into the way he was socialized, and he hopes voters in the Oct. 26 election will give him a chance to demonstrate he’s learned.
“I know in my anti-racism work, when people are called out for racism, you always have to give them room to improve and become better people and not think that way,” he said.
Tara Mann, a former romantic partner who has a child with Kinarath, says he really is a better person. She described him as a good father doing good work in the West End and said it would be a shame if his old tweets prevented him from being cast.
Tweets are a challenge: expert
The combination of the volume of his offensive tweets and how relatively recent they are presents an election challenge for Kinarat, says a reputation management expert.
Sally Houser, senior public relations manager at the Alberta-based Canadian Strategy Group, said that while the general public may be inclined to overlook sexist, racist or homophobic statements made decades ago, few sane people would tolerate some of Kinarath’s tweets a decade ago.
The council candidate is doing the right thing by taking responsibility for his actions, she said, but voters will ultimately decide whether he has made a real effort to educate himself and reach out to the people affected by his words.
“It really comes down to, what emotions are you able to leave voters with? Do they believe you to be real or not? I mean, it’s almost an immeasurable factor, but it’s the key one,” Husser said in an interview.
Sally Houser, senior public relations manager for the Canadian Strategy Group, said Kinnerath is doing the right thing by taking responsibility for his tweets, but that won’t ensure voters find him credible. (Submitted by Sally Houser)
Kinarath said he expected to answer for his old Twitter posts during this election because he has had to answer for them for several years.
“Having dealt with these things before and feeling the scrutiny of the public and the media, I definitely feel it prepares me for the scrutiny of public service,” he said.
He also said he himself had been the victim of hateful comments and admitted they were especially hard because he is Muslim and a person of colour.
“The things I said were terrible, that’s for sure. But the things they said to me over the last seven or eight years? That’s bad,” he said, referring to the threats of physical violence.
“And these people have no remorse. They have no intention of learning or being better or understanding people.”
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