City councilman makes swastika his Facebook profile picture, stirring anger in Illinois
.png "Davion Williams, a city councilman in Champaign, Illinois, is facing criticism after recently posting a swastika on social media. The post comes after he made statements criticized as antisemitic during an Dec. 17 city council meeting.")
An Illinois city council member stirred anger from residents and colleagues after changing his Facebook profile picture to a swastika — and it’s not his first brush with accusations of antisemitism.
Davion Williams, District 1 councilman in Champaign, posted the swastika on a personal social media account on Jan. 31, along with a defense of its use, writing “the swastika is an ancient symbol that has been used for thousands of years across multiple cultures, often representing good fortune, well-being, and spirituality.”
However, the swastika’s connection to the Nazi regime that co-opted it remains strong, and the symbol is still used by hate groups today.
The backlash against Williams came quickly, with Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen sharing a statement condemning Williams on the same day the post was made.
“This blatant display and disregard for the values we uphold as a City is unacceptable. His posts and comments were reckless and we strongly condemn them. We refuse to allow his statements to reflect our City organization or our community,” the statement said, in part.
Despite calls for Williams to step down or be removed from the council, he told The News-Gazette he’s not going anywhere, adding that his post was only intended to educate and foster discussion.
“People see something and they immediately think negative, when in fact, that is a positive symbol that has been around for thousands of years,” Williams told the newspaper. “What has happened is we’ve been taught that it’s a bad symbol, when in actuality, the truth of it is, it is not.”
Williams’ swastika social media post comes a little more than a month after he made comments called antisemitic during a council meeting on Dec. 17. Williams spoke after advocates asked the council to take action regarding the conflict in Gaza.
“There’s Jews, there’s gentiles, there’s … individuals who believe in peace. But there’s a small element of individuals who have a lot of control over a whole lot. Over music, over food, over media, over a whole lot of things,” William said, echoing a persistent antisemitic belief that a group of Jewish elites are discreetly influencing the Western world from behind the scenes.
He also seemed to suggest that Black Americans are also Native Americans, saying “we’re just hybrids.”
Williams’ beliefs about Jews have impacted his diet, he said at the meeting.
“I love pringles. They’re kosher. I just found that out. I stopped eating them,” he said.
He later apologized, saying “it was never my intention for my comments to be offensive, hurtful or antisemitic,” WCIA reported.
McClatchy News has reached out to Williams for comment regarding his social media post, but didn’t immediately receive a response.
Champaign is a roughly 130-mile drive southwest from Chicago.
This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 10:25 AM with the headline "City councilman makes swastika his Facebook profile picture, stirring anger in Illinois."