MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A member of the House of Delegates is calling for one of his colleagues to step down after allegations of posting what are described as anti-Semitic comments on social media.
Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, said Del. Ian Masters, R-Berkeley, should step down.
“People are free to believe what they want to believe and say what they want to say,” Hansen said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town” Thursday. “But, I think elected officials should be held to a higher standard, and I don’t think there’s any room in this legislature for anti-Semitism, white supremacists, or neo-Nazis.”
Masters, R-Berkeley,, has been accused of making anti-Semitic posts on Instagram from an account with the name @NoQuarterMasters. The comment is from April 12 in response to a post about Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy. The comment said, “[Portnoy is] not white. He’s a Jew. We never claimed them. That’s why he’s short, tiny, and weak.”
House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw said he spoke to Masters Wednesday and he denied making the post.
“He and I have spoken, and he has assured me that was an account he was previously affiliated with, but he denies any connection to the comment and said he was surprised to see it,” Hanshaw said on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Hansen said he is relatively certain the comments were by Masters from his account. The account has a profile picture showing a picture of a letter addressed to “Ian” with several wooden carved symbols that are allegedly anti-Semitic.
“It’s pretty obvious that was his personal social media account, and he’s already changed his story since this news broke,” Hansen said. “I just wish he would come clean and face the consequences.”
Hanshaw said Masters has completely denied the posts were made by him and insists a bad actor got a hold of the account and made the posts without his knowledge. Until the source has been identified, Hanshaw said they will continue to look for a cause.
“That’s not what we have here. Delegate Masters asserts pretty strenuously that his account was taken over by an external actor, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of that right now,” Hanshaw said.
Masters was appointed to the House in January to fill the seat that was won last November by Joseph deSoto but the House refused to seat him after he allegedly threatened to kill some members of House .leadership.
Charges against deSoto are currently moving through the Berkeley County court system.