LEWISTON — Two groups are asking Lewiston Mayor Robert MacDonald to resign following comments he made about the city’s Somali population.
The Lewiston office of the Maine People’s Alliance is gathering signatures for a petition asking MacDonald to step down.
The Sun Journal reports that the African Diaspora Institute in Portland also called for MacDonald’s resignation during a Monday news conference outside City Hall.
MacDonald, a former U.S. Marine and city police officer, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that immigrants are costing the city a lot of money and they should “accept our culture and leave your culture at the door.”
The BBC’s segment focused on the resettlement of nearly 6,000 Somalis to Lewiston over the past decade. Messages left for MacDonald were not returned Monday.
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