Retired judge condemns SLO County DA’s ‘outrageous’ anti-Muslim reposts | Opinion

I have followed with increasing dismay the recent actions of District Attorney Dan Dow, both in his inappropriate posting on social media, as well as his tepid responses to public criticism. Simply stated, it was outrageous for Mr. Dow to repost a tweet from an anti-Islamic hate organization that regularly publishes anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.

This serious misstep was compounded by inexplicably linking the 9/11 terrorist attacks to Zohran Mamdani, the incoming mayor of New York, who was not quite 10 years old at the time of the attacks. Mr. Dow’s judgment is in serious question. In response to mounting criticism, Mr. Dow has said he has strong ties to our Muslim community in San Luis Obispo County and that his Christian faith teaches him “to respect and have genuine love for people regardless of whether they share the same faith.” He further says that he shared the post because he is a U.S. Army veteran who served more than 33 years (four tours overseas) and because he disagrees with the politics of Zohran Mamdani.

I admire Mr. Dow’s military service. My father fought in many World War II battles, earning the Bronze Star for bravery at Iwo Jima and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism near Guam. However, no rational connection exists between serving in the military and espousing Islamophobia.

Mr. Dow is correct that the Christian faith teaches us to have “respect and genuine love for people of all faiths,” however, he fails to recognize the obvious: The dissemination of hatred, racism, and bigotry has no place in Christianity. Respect and genuine love must be lived. From the perspective of serving justice, it is difficult to see how Mr. Dow will be able to maintain the public’s confidence in impartially performing his professional responsibilities toward defendants, victims and witnesses of the Muslim faith, unless he truly has a change of heart and genuinely takes responsibility for his serious mistakes.

Admitting and taking responsibility means retracting his incendiary social media reposts with a full and heartfelt apology to our community, especially American Muslims. Mr. Dow should also offer to meet with our elected public officials, and CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush, to apologize publicly to them. It would be especially appropriate for these steps to occur as we celebrate Veterans Day; that way, Mr. Dow could honorably fulfill his stated credo to live “intentionally.”

San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Charles S. Crandall served on the bench for 19 years. He retired in 2022.