Walpole Planning Board candidate says Facebook posts were taken out of context

WALPOLE, Mass. — A Walpole politician is running to be on the Planning Board but past Facebook posts have some residents questioning his judgment.

George Hodges says the Facebook posts, including one that said: “if there’s a rag on your head, you want Americans dead”, were taken out of context.

“It was about ISIS,” he told Boston 25 News.

Hodges said he hopes that if he is elected Saturday he can help the town become more business friendly and collect more taxes.

The Facebook posts that have recently been shared across town are from several months ago. A second one says "my theory on a day without woman. First of all, most woman won't participate, the ones that do are on or need meds."

Hodges is of Syrian decent and is a father of three who has been married for 34 years. He told Boston 25 News that he's been writing songs since he was a child.

“They are lyrics to a song. It's two songs I wrote, they were in progress,” Hodges said.

But Dr. John Robbins, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he hopes Hodges withdraws from the race.

“This seems like a thing attempt to justify behavior,” Robbins said. “It's deeply offensive, no matter the context.”

Hodges is running against, Sara Khatib, a Muslim woman.

"We live in a country of free speech but our elected representatives need to be more responsible," she said in a statement to Boston 25 News.

Cox Media Group