Newington Town Attorney Taking Some Heat for Controversial Facebook Posts

NEWINGTON, CT — Remarks about President Barack Obama on the Newington town attorney's personal Facebook page has caused some furor among residents.

A Twitter communication to Patch from a reader indicated that Ben Ancona, who replaced Peter Boorman as town attorney in late 2015, had made some derogatory comments about the now-former president.

On Jan. 10, Ancona wrote, "8 years in D.C. and back to the homeland...Kenya." In response to a reply on that thread, he wrote, "Jeff, it's really unbelievable. January 20th can't come soon enough. In a nutshell, he's simply un-American and I'm so happy he's gone. Let the healing begin."

At the moment of Donald Trump's inauguration as president, at 12:03 p.m. on Jan. 20, Ancona posted, "Finally, an American President Again!" When someone asked, "You mean Obama was not an American?", Ancona replied, "Correct."

The reader who contacted Patch stated, "@NewingtonPatch Newington needs a new town attorney after those disgusting Facebook posts about President Obama. It doesn't matter if it was his personal Facebook page. Most employers view employees' social media accounts. He put it out there proudly. He owns it. It's racist. Is that what the town of Newington wants to represent them?"

In an email to WFSB-TV, Newington Mayor Roy Zartarian wrote, “On the social media site, he was speaking as a private individual, not as Town Attorney. In his capacity as Town Attorney, he has shown nothing less than complete impartiality and objectivity in handling the matters referred to him."

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