Behold the latest scalp claimed by social justice warriors intent on enforcing groupthink: a Gulf War veteran hired as the executive director of the Allegheny County, Pa., Democratic Party. His crime? Expressing support for the national anthem and asking for prayers for a cop involved in a shooting of an unarmed teenager. Evidently, no room exists for such insensitivity toward the Black Lives Matter movement in today’s Democratic Party.
The Allegheny County Democratic Party hired Mark Salvas as their executive director in September. Merely one month later, he resigned after Democratic officials expressed concern over two posts on Facebook they deemed controversial.
In the more recent post, in July 2018, his wife — not Salvas himself — expressed concern for a personal family friend, a cop involved in a fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager. She asked for prayers for their personal friend in the aftermath of the shooting.
The other post goes all the way back to 2017, in which Salvas posted a picture of himself and his wife with a popular frame saying, “I stand for the flag and kneel for the cross.”
Salvas shared his love of country, patriotism, and personal service on his Facebook profile:
Mark Salvas wears his patriotism and service proudly. Image via Facebook.
Apparently this didn’t sit well with Pennsylvania Democrats, many of whom protested his hire and spoke of his insensitivity toward African Americans. KDKA-TV, the Pittsburgh CBS affiliate, reported:
“I was asked by the chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Party to resign my position due to the controversy that was taking place on social media, and I did,” Salvas told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Wednesday. “It’s never easy when people you have never met accuse you of things and call you names, and you’ve never met them.”
A former Marine and Gulf War veteran, Salvas was just hired in September as executive director of the county party, long after he posted a picture of his wife and him on Facebook with the words, “I stand for the flag, I kneel at the cross.”
“I’m not ashamed of my patriotism, not one bit. I fought for this country. I think I have a right to have a voice and be patriotic,” says Salvas.
But he says NFL players can take a knee.
“That’s part of what the flag stands for. It gives them the right to do that,” says Salvas.
But Salvas chooses to stand.
Salvas: “I stand for the flag, I kneel for the cross.”
Delano: “No apologies?”
Salvas: “Not at all. Not at all.”
KDKA reports that Democratic Party officials refused to comment, but two state representatives spoke about the issue.
But Pennsylvania Rep. Ed Gainey says that post offended an important segment of the Democratic Party.
“To put that up on Facebook was, to me, insensitive, also to African Americans, who, as you know, have backed the Democratic Party for quite a long time, and everybody knows that it was insensitive,” said Gainey. “If you’re going to be executive director of the Democratic Party, you have to be sensitive to things like that.”
… State Rep. Jake Wheatley added that once you become a party official your personal views have to be put aside.
“As an official, he has to be very careful and sensitive that his words and his posts are not necessarily just his. They are reflective of the party in its entirety,” noted Wheatley.
The shooting sparked days of protest in Pittsburgh and led to the prosecution of the officer, Michael Rosfeld. He was indicted on murder charges and given $250,000 in bail. The criminal trial will begin February 26, 2019.
It just so happens that Salvas knows Rosfeld well. He told KDKA:
“What happened to Antwon Rose was a tragedy. I don’t think anybody doubts that. I think we can all agree on that. A young man lost his life and that’s a shame,” says Salvas. “Officer Rosfeld, Michael Rosfeld, is as close to me and my family as anyone could be. I have known that young man since he was literally 3-years-old. They are family to us.
Salvas says, like the Rose family, the Rosfeld family is struggling with the tragedy.
“They have been there for us in hard times, and my wife and I felt it was necessary to be there for them because family backs family,” he said.
So, his wife posted on Facebook that they asked for prayers for the Rosfeld family. For that, he has been excommunicated from the Democratic Party, despite his stated desire to work for progressive causes.
Be careful what you post on social media. You never know what your employer will find insensitive, offensive, or worse. In today’s toxic political climate, it takes little more to become a target of the outrage mob.
Jeff Reynolds is the author of the forthcoming book, Behind the Curtain: Inside the Network of Progressive Billionaires and Their Campaign to Undermine Democracy, to be released February 26, 2019. You can follow Jeff on Twitter @ChargerJeff.
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