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City councilwoman says opponent posted racist messages on Facebook

A Philadelphia city councilwoman is accusing her party-endorsed rival of posting dozens of ultra-conservative, racist and homophobic messages on Facebook.

A Philadelphia city councilwoman is accusing her party-endorsed rival of posting dozens of ultra-conservative, racist and anti-immigrant messages on Facebook.

Seventh District Councilwoman María Quiñones-Sánchez said she was "outraged" at what she discovered on the Facebook page she says is that of her opponent, Emanuel 'Manny' Morales. She released a website "MeetMannyMorales.com" with screen shots of the postings today.

"From his words, any rational person would conclude that he is: anti-black, pro-gun, anti-Obama, pro-voter ID, anti-Choice, pro-stand your ground, anti-woman, pro-drug testing for welfare recipients, anti-poor, pro-Corbett/pro-Republican, anti-Gay, pro-Ferguson police and George Zimmerman, anti-immigrant, pro-English only, anti-Israel, pro-Ron Paul, anti-child support and pro-close the border," Quiñones-Sánchez said in a release. "I honestly could not find anything in common with his thought process or that would serve the diverse constituencies of the 7th Councilmanic District"

Morales did not immediately return calls for comment but posted on his page March 14 saying, "I have been told that people are spreading outrageous and desperate lies calling me racist and homophobic among other words. Those that really know me knows that I have family members and friends that I love and care for that are of a different skin color than me. I have family members and friends that I care for that have love ones of the same sex. I was not born in a golden crib and I'm proud to be originally from Brooklyn New York Red Hook projects where my mother made me plenty of delicious grilled cheese from the block of welfare cheese she received to feed our family."

The page, which is open to the public, has photos of Morales on the campaign trail and lists his previous job as a labor law investigator for the state. The posts Quiñones-Sánchez archives on the website date from 2010 to 2014, some have since been deleted from the Facebook page, she said.

In February, party leaders in the 13th ward voted to endorse Morales over two-term incumbent Quiñones-Sánchez . Quiñones-Sánchez has twice won her seat without the party backing. She is now calling on voters to push the City Committee to revoke its support of Morales given her findings.

The more than 60 Facebook posts include a photo comparing a black man jaywalking to an animal using a crosswalk and the comment, "This shows who is an animal? Awesome picture."

Below a news article about the release of a black teenager, who was cleared in the murder of 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale, a comment reads:

"If it was white boys that killed a black girl trust me they would have given 25 to life to both white boys. Dante is home and he will kill in a very near future, write this date down and remember I said it."

Other posts on the page advocate for drug testing for welfare recipients, voter ID laws, shutting down the border and pro-gun legislation.

In a July 2014 post above an anti-abortion video, a comment under Morales'name reads, "Unwanted pregnancy is very easy to avoid, keep your legs closed."

State Rep. Angel Cruz, who endorsed Morales, said he had not yet seen the postings but didn't believe they could be real.

"This is all about being desperate because no one in her district wants her," Cruz said of the councilwoman. "Nowadays everyone is hacked and people can do whatever you want. It needs to be proven that they're his and this is isn't all one of her little tactics."

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