The Bridgeport City Council called on City Council member Maria Pereira to resign Thursday after Pereira sent out an Islamophobic and insult-laden email to city officials. The email was sent out a day after the council approved a nonbinding Gaza ceasefire resolution on Tuesday.
In the email Pereira claimed a person in favor of the ceasefire resolution who attended the city council meeting may be a terrorist.
“A Palestinian young man, possibly a Hamas terrorist, repeatedly yelled out my name and was waving some propaganda poster at me,” Pereira said. “I just stuck up my middle finger at him.”
The city council voted 14-2 in favor of the ceasefire resolution. Pereira, who was one of the two no votes, also insulted her fellow council members, Mayor Joe Ganim and Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter.
In the email, Pereira called Porter a pig, and called Bridgeport police officers “piglets.”
Porter issued a statement, calling the remarks, “unfortunate.”
“It is very unfortunate to hear that statement,” Porter said. “As Chief of Police, I support the dedication and hard work our officers bring to the Bridgeport Community every single day.”
Khaled Elleithy, the president of the Bridgeport Islamic Community Center, condemned Pereira’s remarks.
“While our religious leaders from the three large religions call for peace, an elected official chose to disrupt peace in our city of Bridgeport,” Elleithy said.
The council has since issued a statement calling for Pereira to resign.
The incident happened weeks before Bridgeport’s upcoming mayoral primary which is set to be held on Jan. 23. Pereira is one of the more well-known allies of Ganim’s challenger John Gomes.
When Connecticut Public contacted Pereira Thursday for comment she responded with a well known acronym when asked about calls for her resignation.
“LOL!” Pereira said.
Pereira was arrested last November on the day of the city’s first primary election over an incident at a polling station.
The primary results, which Ganim barely won with absentee ballots, were tossed out in October after a superior court judge found evidence of electoral misconduct by Ganim campaign volunteers.
Ganim’s ally Ernie Newton, who represents the 139th district, tied Pereira to Gomes.
“We all know that Maria works for him with his absentee ballot operations. And she's a supporter,” Newton said. “I would hope that he would denounce those actions that were said against our police chief and our police officers,” Newton said.
Gomes’ campaign did not respond to Connecticut Public’s request for comment, but Ganim did, and tied Pereira to Gomes' absentee ballot efforts, which his campaign had previously attacked Gomes on.
But he also took a direct shot at Gomes.
"The records show she has already checked out 300 absentee ballot applications on behalf of the Gomes campaign and is one of his chief campaign operatives," Ganim said. "Gomes' continued silence as she slanders our community members, men and women in uniform, and city staff speaks volumes about the kind of mayor he would be, if elected."
The city council released a joint statement calling Pereira’s comments offensive.
“This kind of racial profiling and derogatory comments towards a specific racial group has no place in our politics and civil discourse,” the statement said.
The emailed statement also said the city expects its officials to act with professionalism and respect.
