Lawmakers from each events in Washington state are urging Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, to take away Luc fils Jasmin from the Washington State Human Rights Fee after video surfaced on June 10 displaying the commissioner dismissing issues about antisemitism and making derogatory remarks about Jews.
Throughout a fee assembly on March 27, 2025, Jasmin mentioned Jews are “at all times crying” about antisemitism and accused Jews of “killing hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians whereas commissioners debated a proposed decision condemning antisemitism. The assembly video was uploaded to the fee’s web site and YouTube channel greater than a 12 months after the assembly happened. The fee later adopted the antisemitism decision unanimously on April 17, 2025.
Jasmin, a Spokane pastor appointed by then-Gov. Jay Inslee in June 2023, serves a time period that runs by way of June 2028. Underneath state regulation, the governor has the authority to take away commissioners for misconduct.
“The job of a human rights commissioner is to battle bigotry, not take part in it,” Travis Couture, a Republican state consultant, informed JNS. “Mocking Jews for talking out in opposition to antisemitism is vile, discriminatory and fully incompatible with the mission of the Washington State Human Rights Fee.”
“Commissioner Jasmin has confirmed he’s unfit to serve, and Gov. Ferguson has the authority to take away commissioners for misconduct,” he mentioned. “If he fails to behave, each Washingtonian will probably be left questioning why bigotry and antisemitism are merely tolerated in his administration.”
Mari Leavitt, a Democratic state consultant, informed JNS that Jasmin “ought to have been requested to resign or eliminated over a 12 months in the past” after the assembly occurred.
“His commentary is exactly why we will need to have resolutions and talk about it within the first place,” she mentioned. “The rise of antisemitism is data-centric and confirmed.”
“It’s high-quality for folk to criticize the Israeli authorities,” mentioned Leavitt, who has been outspoken in her help for Israel and in opposition to antisemitism. “I’m not enchanted both with their choices or actions the entire time. That’s known as essential pondering. But it surely’s not the Jewish individuals, and it’s a undeniable fact that our Jewish neighborhood in Washington are, for my part, beneath assault.”
“His dismissive and careless method during which he forged apart these issues, and seemingly informal approach during which he did so, suggests to me he isn’t match to sit down on the fee and may resign,” she mentioned.
Jared Nieuwenhuis, a member of the Bellevue Metropolis Council, additionally known as on Gov. Ferguson to “act swiftly and take away Commissioner Jasmin from his place.”
Jasmin’s “feedback are fully unacceptable and don’t have any place in Washington’s Human Rights Fee,” Nieuwenhuis informed JNS. “Dismissing antisemitism, mocking Jewish struggling and suggesting that Jews ‘cry’ an excessive amount of in regards to the atrocities dedicated in opposition to them shouldn’t be solely traditionally inaccurate, it’s morally indefensible.”
He famous that Jews have “endured a few of the worst human rights abuses in historical past, and the trendy human rights motion was formed within the aftermath of the Holocaust. Anybody who ridicules that struggling is unfit to serve in a job devoted to defending human rights.”
“Washington should ship a transparent and unequivocal message: antisemitism is not going to be tolerated. Not in our communities, and positively not from these entrusted with defending human rights,” Nieuwenhuis mentioned.
