Buena Park pastor removed as police chaplain over anti-Muslim social media posts
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Don Harbert, a Christian pastor from the Way Fellowship, is no longer a senior chaplain for the Buena Park Police Department after reposting and liking anti-Muslim content online.
Harbert, who served as police chaplain for the past 27 years, met with Buena Park City Manager Aaron France and Interim Police Chief Bradley Geyer on Jan. 28 to discuss the future of his volunteer position.
“I just repost to start a dialogue because I have friends on the far left and friends on the far right,” Harbert told TimesOC. “I was told it was hate speech.”
Buena Park Mayor Connor Traut, who submitted a Jan. 26 complaint about the posts, described in a statement Harbert’s social media activities as showing “a pattern of hostile and inaccurate statements about members of the Muslim community.”
“When the concerns were raised with Harbert, he did not express any willingness to retract, reconsider or clarify his statements,” Traut said. “That same day, he indicated support for a law that would prohibit Muslims from holding public office.”
It’s an issue that hits close to home. Vice Mayor Lamiya Hoque is the first-ever Muslim American to serve on the Buena Park City Council following her election in 2024.
“I’m proud that Buena Park is a city where people from all backgrounds are respected and treated fairly,” Hoque told TimesOC. “Everyone should feel safe and welcome here. We will continue to uphold that standard in how we serve our community.”
Five days before Harbert met with city officials, he shared a post that claimed Islam is the fastest growing religion in the U.S. per capita and that within 20 years the Muslim population would be large enough to elect a president.
“Is this true?” Harbert asked. “Fact checkers?”
The post, which encouraged readers to copy and paste it, also told a story about an unnamed person attending a training with interfaith leaders and asked an imam some questions.
“Would you rather have your Allah, who tells you to kill me in order for you to go to heaven, or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I’m going to heaven and he wants you to be there with me,” the post read.
The same day as Harbert’s removal as chaplain, a person commented on the post with a call to “reinstate the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952” upon the belief that it forbade Muslims from holding public office.
Harbert liked the post.
Contrary to the post’s framing, the immigration law cited did not ban Muslims from holding public office in the U.S., as reputable fact checkers have noted. Where it concerns Buena Park, Harbert told TimesOC that he doesn’t have an issue with Hoque holding a seat on the City Council.
“I believe that anybody has a right to serve if they’re voted in,” he said. “I stand by that. She was voted in by her constituents.”
Harbert’s social media reposts were discussed internally before Geyer ultimately made the call to have Harbert step down.
“City volunteers, particularly those serving in prominent public-facing roles, are expected to serve the public at large as opposed to those with specific religious beliefs,” a statement from the city read. “Volunteers are expected to exhibit the city’s core values of ‘equity’ and ‘respect’ in their role with the city.”
The city declined to comment further.
A representative from the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ local chapter called anti-Muslim sentiments “especially concerning” when coming from chaplains affiliated with law enforcement agencies.
“Chaplains working alongside public officers should provide spiritual support and guidance rooted in dignity and respect for all people, regardless of faith background,” said Amr Shabaik, CAIR-LA’s legal director. “When hate in such a public manner is allowed to go unchecked, it erodes public trust and puts the safety and well-being of all our communities at risk.”
Since making a public statement on social media late last month about his removal, Harbert has taken down a photo and description of himself as senior chaplain from his personal Facebook account at the request of city officials.
“If [city officials] asked me to take social media posts down, I would have,” he said.
“But I’m not going to apologize for being a Christian. I’m not going to apologize for trying to get people to have dialogue and talk about what the issues are.”
Before the controversy, Harbert was selected Buena Park Citizen of the Year by the Cypress College Foundation for its Americana Awards. Buena Park City Council pulled a scheduled recognition of that honor last month.
Harbert said he recently received a phone call from the foundation and decided to rescind his acceptance of the award ahead of a gala scheduled for later this month.
