Canton lays off employee because of problematic Facebook posts

The Canton of Zug is considering personnel and criminal proceedings against the head of the Steinhausen Transit Station.

He acted in a "very mean" way, and bullied and harassed people. Former employees made serious accusations against the head of the Steinhausen transit station In March of last year. Little has happened since then, however, and he has been allowed to keep his management position. But things are now happening: the canton of Zug laid off the transit station manager on Tuesday morning, with immediate effect and until further notice. And not because of the criticism of his leadership style, but because of his entries on Facebook.

As research by the Zuger Zeitung newspaper has revealed, the man – referred to as “Alexander P.” in the following – has shared and posted homophobic, sexist and, above all, pro-Russian contributions on his Facebook profile and has added comments for about half a year. His account was public and visible to all. The Zuger Zeitung confronted his employer, the Zug Directorate of the Interior (Direktion des Innern), with the findings on Monday afternoon, and the man was sent home the next day. Alexander P. immediately deleted his profile, but the newspaper had already made more than 60 screenshots from it.

The Steinhausen transit station. Whether and when the division manager will return to his workplace is unclear   Photo: Maria Schmid

The first conspicuous post by Alexander P. dates back to October 11, 2021. Particularly noteworthy is the sequence of emojis, which P. uses again and again from this point on. Emojis are small smileys and pictorial characters that are mainly sent in chats and SMS.

"Freeing the world from impurity"
Surrounded by emojis of dog droppings and poop, Alexander P. adds up a pig and a snake emoji, followed by various crustaceans and insects. As it turns out in the course of his Facebook posts, P. uses

• the Pig as a symbol of “impurity”,
• the Snake as a symbol for a "lie",
• and the Crustaceans stand for "impure forms of life" that deserve to be "dismembered alive".

The animals are followed, among other things, by the emojis of a lesbian and a gay couple kissing under a heart. The second emoji sequence seems to stand for the common Corona conspiracy myths going around, and that are not elaborated on here.

The first actual post follows on 12 December 2021, , in which Alexander P. refers to a (war between Russia and Ukraine( which had not broken out at the time). He posts a video of a war situation, probably from a video game. As a feeling, he states "feels great", and as a location he has chosen "Europe/Kiev". He writes in English: "War in EUROPE – the question is not IF, the question is WHEN, Living s**t", followed by the same emoji sequence mentioned above.

Alexander P. became clearer on 30 January 2022. Replying to a video of the Russian army, he writes in English: "Heroes to liberate the world from the UNCLEANNESS", paired with applause and crown emojis. P. later added dozens of such posts. until he deleted his profile on 28 June 2022.

The Hebrew terms for "impurity" and "ritually unclean" also return again and again, usually combined with "LGBTQI+", the term used to refer to the ‘queer’ community. The editors have refrained from reproducing the other numerous insults made against this community. P. become particularly abusive on 18 June –  the day of the Pride Parade in Zurich. He posts pictures of past Pride parades on which faces are recognisable.

Atomic bombs and virginity certificates
Alexander P.'s contributions paint a clear picture: he supports the attitudes of Vladimir Putin and the Supreme Russian Orthodox Patriarch Cyril I. The latter is a close confidant of Putin, and is also known as his "hate preacher". P. adopts a pro-Russian narrative, according to which he despises the "values of the Western world" and equates them with ‘queerness’.

The West is an "evil", "impure" "waste alliance", and a "new world order" must be installed. He also didn’t shy away from topics such as the nuclear bombing of Ukraine, asking: "When?" He refers to the Russian-controlled areas as "liberated" areas, and comments on his pro-Russian contributions with "No Mercy", "No Peace", "No Coexistence", "No Compromises".

"Virginity" also plays a major role for Alexander P. - he refers several times to the "holy, pure mother" and posts "virginity certificates" or the visualisation of a vulva that has been sewn up to "restore" virginity.

Canton of Zug considering criminal proceedings
The Directorate of the Interior distances itself from the statements of the transit station manager "in every form completely", says government councillor Andreas Hostettler.

"Our position is very clear. These statements are absolutely unacceptable and intolerable."

The decision to suspend Alexander P. was made within hours. He had to immediately hand in his computer, mobile phone and badge, and a replacement is already ready. Andreas Hostettler continues: "The presumption of innocence applies, but we are examining this matter closely and will take personnel and criminal action where required."

The head of the transit station never had anything to do with refugees from Ukraine, says Andreas Hostettler. Ukrainians with protection status S were deliberately separated from the rest of the asylum system from the very outset. The S-status privileges might otherwise have led to tensions among refugees from other countries.

The Zuger Zeitung newspaper has asked P. for a written statement, but he has not replied as yet. According to Andreas Hostettler, he told his superiors that he was not available to the media.