Maine Town Fires Manager Over White Identity Comments

A small Maine town fired its manager Tuesday, days after his views promoting white identity and criticizing Islam attracted unwanted national attention.

The four selectmen of Jackman, Maine, near the Canadian border, met on Tuesday morning and unanimously voted to end their relationship with the official, Thomas Kawczynski. He had been in the position since June.

“He pulled the wool right over our eyes and we had no clue what he was about,” said Raymond Levesque, who attended the meeting and owns a laundromat, ice cream parlor and general store in town.

Under the agreement, Kawczynski, whose contract promised a payout if he was terminated without cause, received a $30,000 settlement on the condition that he not take legal action against the town, said Warren Shay, a lawyer for Jackman.

Shay said that, not including the media, about 60 people attended the Tuesday meeting, weathering a mix of heavy freezing rain and snow. Fewer than 1,000 people live in Jackman, according to the 2010 census. The town is overwhelmingly white, according to that census, which listed 15 people of mixed race, nine American Indians or other indigenous people, five Asians and one black person.

Kawczynski’s views drew widespread condemnation late last week when The Bangor Daily News and The Portland Press Herald quoted him and statements he made online at the website of New Albion, a group he founded whose stated aim is “defending the people and culture of New England.”

Archived versions of the website show that Kawczynski had argued that voluntary segregation would improve happiness for all and, in one now-removed post, he wrote of what he perceived as “resentment against whites” and the need for a movement around white identity.

“You’re the ambassador for the race,” he wrote. “Every person you meet can walk away from seeing you thinking white nationalism is a good thing or a bad thing.”

Kawczynski had also called Islam “the scourge of Western civilization,” according to The Bangor Daily News, though that statement appeared to have been taken down.

In an interview with The Times on Tuesday, Kawczynski pushed back against the news reports, arguing that he had been taken out of context and is not a supremacist, a separatist or a nationalist.

“This is not a movement based on racism,” he said.

Instead, he said he was simply trying to bring a conversation into the open.

“There are a great many people who have thoughts that are not considered permissible,” he said, “and if the media and the lynch mob determine to force them into darkness then don’t be surprised when the darkness comes back in the form in which it was required to develop.”

The reports about Kawczynski’s beliefs drew swift condemnation.

In a statement, the Maine Town, City and County Management Association rejected and condemned Kawczynski’s views, describing them as “fundamentally incompatible” with his role.

In a since-removed Facebook post, the Jackman-Moose River Region Chamber of Commerce noted that interviewees are not asked their views on politics, race or nationality and described his beliefs as “shocking and offensive.”

In Maine, a town manager has several responsibilities, from handling budgets to promoting local tourism. Jackman, often described as a gateway to Canada, relies heavily on visitors for revenue.

“It’s a major route from Quebec down to and through Maine, and they pride themselves on being a welcoming community to everybody who wants to come,” Shay said.

Kawczynski’s termination was effective immediately, Shay said. “When we left, he turned in his keys and card and was on his way.”