When I moved to Santa Clarita, I had no idea that it had a council member named Bob Kellar who once stood at a militia rally and declared himself to be a "proud racist."

It almost seems unbelievable, but it& #39;s true.

Even more unbelievable — he& #39;s STILL on the council.
1/
It happened in 2010, on the corner outside the local sheriff& #39;s department.

There was an uproar when the video spread, but Kellar was defiant. He even refused to apologize.

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2010/01/26/santa-clarita-councilman-stands-by-proud-racist-remark/

2/">https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2010/01/2...
That speech was 10 years ago. Kellar has won re-election every time and continues to be a political powerbroker.

He was a force behind #CA25’s new congressman @MikeGarcia2020 — making a video noting Garcia is “all American” and “supports our president.”

Hear a dogwhistle?
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Would it surprise you to learn about his former profession from this local news profile about the "proud racist" councilman...?

He was not just an LAPD Officer — he was an INSTRUCTOR at its police academy.

The article: https://signalscv.com/2017/10/robert-c-kellar-u-s-army-special-forces-sand-canyon-resident-2/

4/">https://signalscv.com/2017/10/r...
Santa Clarita& #39;s "proud racist" councilman has also turned up on Fox News to promote hardline immigration views using the city council chambers as a backdrop.

Shocker, right?
Remember, he said this thing — and then stuck with it.

No apology. No backtracking.

And it worked. He& #39;s still in a position of power in this city and helping elect our new congressman.

Repeat: He STOOD BY the remark.
Defenders say the "proud racist" comment was "taken out of context." So here& #39;s the full transcript of his remarks.

The speech is even worse in its entirety.
Upcoming city council candidates model themselves on Kellar.

Locally, ordinary people don& #39;t want to rock the boat.

They don& #39;t want to face that this man is a disgrace to our community, not someone to be celebrated. https://twitter.com/Breznican/status/1162900015850766336?s=20">https://twitter.com/Breznican...
When your local newspaper runs a column about "white pride" and there are no consequences for that, your community has a problem.

Santa Clarita has yet to reckon with that. https://twitter.com/Breznican/status/1162767434752774144?s=20">https://twitter.com/Breznican...
So now Santa Clarita, my town, is asking: What should we do?

Should we protest? What are we protesting?

THIS is what we are protesting. THIS is what we are saying we aren& #39;t anymore.
When I moved to Santa Clarita, I didn& #39;t know we had a councilman named Bob Kellar who declared himself to be a "proud racist."

A lot of people who live here still don& #39;t know. Or they& #39;ve forgotten.

Today, we remember.
What does this have to do with you?

I don& #39;t know. But look around locally. What& #39;s in your town? What are people actively pretending isn& #39;t there?

What can we do to change our backyards for the better.

That& #39;s how we change the country. Backyard by backyard.
You can follow @Breznican.
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