PORT ANGELES — A City Council candidate whose Facebook page included a March 2013 posting that joked about assassinating then-President Barack Obama said last week his account was hacked.
Artur Wojnowski, a candidate for Port Angeles City Council Position 3, suspended his account on Friday.
He disavowed the entry and several other 2013 posts he said were not his.
“These are not posts that I wrote,” he said Friday in an email after being emailed screenshots of his Facebook page.
Wojnowski, maintenance manager for Dungeness Meadows Home Owners Association, is running in the Nov. 7 general election against Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin for the seat being vacated by Mayor Patrick Downie, who is not running for re-election.
He said he should have acted sooner to take down the entries.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a good old fashion presidential assassination, and hell a black one, someone could make history! Any takers ha ha,” the March 4, 2013, posting said to be from “Artur Wojnowski commented on Tea Party.”
“I don’t think it’s right to joke about that,” Wojnowski said in a telephone interview last week, comparing it to comedian Kathy Griffin posing in photographs with a fake severed head resembling President Donald Trump.
“If that was a statement that was on there, more than likely it was around the time I got hacked.”
A March 2 post on his Facebook page had the same heading.
“Everyone should just stop paying taxes all together since clearly the gov has proven they can (sic) handle the responsibility of budgeting and money,” it said.
Wojnowski said in the interview that people should pay the taxes they are required to pay.
“If government does what it’s supposed to do and sufficiently not waste money, there’s no reason you shouldn’t pay your taxes,” he said.
As for those who don’t pay taxes, “that is their decision and choice to do so, and I support citizen choice,” Wojnowski said.
“That doesn’t mean they don’t have consequences from the choice they make.
“You have politicians who don’t pay taxes.
“It’s something an individual would have to choose for themselves.”
In an email Friday, he regretted not suspending his account sooner, “which is what I should have done once I found out my accounts had been hacked,” he said. He added that his Yahoo account also had been hacked.
He said in the email that he “does not identify as Tea Party” but does “tend to lean right of center when it comes to government fiscal responsibility.”
Government should step in where the private sector cannot, he said.
“Opinions can evolve with life experience,” Wojnowski said.
“While I don’t always agree with the left, I do see the need to provide assistance to citizens who need help and support.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.