The director of the Missouri Department of Health said he was called a racist slander at the mask authorization meeting

The acting director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health said he was beaten and racist abused after speaking in support of wearing a mask at a council meeting.

Dr. Faisal Khan delivered a speech at a meeting on Tuesday night, when the council was considering ending the mandatory requirement for masks, despite the high spread of Delta variants leading to an increase in the rate of coronavirus infections.

The next day, he wrote a letter to Democratic Congressman Rita Heard Days, stating that he had suffered “racism, xenophobia, and threats.” He said it was Congressman Tim. Incitement by Tim Fitch and other Republican politicians.

Fitch told St. Louis Post Khan’s allegations were groundless. He tried to provide political cover for the county magistrate, Sam Page, who called for Mask mission.

Fitch said Khan was “in trouble” by pointing his middle finger to someone and tried to deviate from the middle finger. The Fitch office has been contacted for more comment.

In a letter to Dess, Khan admitted to making this move, but said it was done after a group of “angry” people surrounded him, insulted him, and attacked him.

“I have never been subjected to the racism, xenophobia, and threats that greeted me at the county council meeting last night,” Khan wrote in the letter, noting that he has been committed to improving public health and Become a “proud citizen” of the United States since 2013.

In his letter, he said that his time before the start of the board was Fitch’s “dog whistle issue”. “He said he wanted to emphasize to the crowd that I am not from this country.” Fitch said it was for the sake of Let the audience get acquainted with the qualifications of Khan.

Khan said that Mark McCloskey, who was sitting behind him, posted on social media that when Fitch raised the issue, the rules for wearing masks were “non-American.”

McCloskey Senate, Which made headlines after last summer He and his wife brandished guns at the “black man’s fate” protesters Passing by their house.

Khan wrote that in his speech, several people in the audience began to laugh at his accent, and he heard someone imitating Apu, an Indian character in the Simpsons cartoon.

Khan claimed that McCloskey and another Republican politician, Paul Berry, “constantly reprimanded” him in his speeches.

A spokesperson for the McCloskey campaign denied the accusation. After delivery, Call it “fiction.” McCloskey and Berry have been contacted for comments.

Khan’s letter pointed out that when he asked Dess to intervene to prevent cross-examination, she was giving lectures to him and not to the people involved.

“This kind of insulting treatment surprised me because I heard that you are sensitive to racial issues and treat people fairly,” he added.

But when the speech was over, the situation escalated, Khan wrote.

“I tried to leave the room but met several people in the hallway. More than once, I was hit by the shoulder and pushed,” he wrote.

When he tried to walk to the exit outside the room immediately, Khan said he was surrounded by a crowd and called him “fat brown c**t” and “brown b*****d”.

He continued: “After being physically attacked, called a racist slanderer, and surrounded by angry mobs, I used my middle finger to point at someone who physically threatened me and called me a racist slanderer to express me. Dissatisfaction.”

Khan said he was worried that his reaction would distract people from the problem of masks and vaccines, but he could not apologize.

He wrote: “When faced with the acrimonious racism that Congressman Fitch has committed to me privately and publicly since he took office, I cannot say that I am sorry.”

Khan urged Dyce to investigate the matter to “prevent similar incidents in the future and ensure that a safe and orderly environment is created for any testimony that I or my staff are required to provide to the committee in the future.”

In a statement Weekly newspaper, Page said that investigations into these allegations are ongoing. “These actions against Dr. Khan are disturbing and are under investigation,” he said. “The behavior he described in detail is shameful and intolerable.”

Heaven tells After delivery The so-called behavior outlined by Khan is “unfortunate” and “should not be tolerated.”

Khan and Days have been contacted for more comments.