Government worker whose social media was used for anti-Semitic messages quits job, deletes accounts

A government employee who blamed anti-Semitic messages sent from his social media accounts on a hacker has quit his job after being told he was under employment investigation.

The former Ministry for Primary Industries staff member’s account was used to send messages to Jewish women, including comments that “Hitler was right” and “you guys should never exist”.

His employer earlier described the comments from his account as “abhorrent”.

The incident happened after an Israel-based social media user shared a post stating: “It is 2024 and the number of Jewish people living in the world today is still lower than it was before the Holocaust. Let that sink in.”

In reply, a comment from the Wellington man’s account said: “We don’t care you guys should never exist Hitler was right... He probably take you out first.”

California attorney Allison Strull complained to MPI about the employee and shared screenshots of the comment and further messages sent to her own account with the Herald.

In those messages, the employee – or someone pretending to be him – tells Strull: “We hate Jews that support killing babies.”

“THE WORLD HATES YOU AND ISRAEL B****.”

Further expletive-laden messages followed, including a threat to send photos of “dead babies”.

Strull said the man was a “hateful monster” and that he had messaged her about Jews loving genocide.

She said there had been a “dangerous rise in anti-Semitism” following the deadly conflict in Gaza.

Officials from a government department were investigating after anti-Semitic messages were sent from a staff member's social media account. The staff member claims the messages were sent by a hacker.

The Herald contacted the man to ask for comment on the social media messages. He said someone had hacked his account and “have been commenting hate crime”.

“I did not do that and I have changed all my accounts,” he said.

“I cannot take accountability for something I didn’t do.”

The man did not respond to a request for proof his account had been hacked.

He now appears to have deleted his Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts.

Deputy director-general Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service, Sam Keenan, earlier confirmed the department was investigating.

“This matter has been referred to our professional standards unit. The staff member has been spoken to and an employment investigation is underway,” he said at the time.

When the Herald asked for an update on the investigation, an MPI spokesman said the man was no longer working with them.

“After we started our investigation, the employee resigned and has already left MPI,” the spokesman said.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.