A council member for the right-wing Finns Party, who wrote on Facebook that a man suspected of shooting two men from immigrant backgrounds should be given a medal, has been expelled from the party.
Tommi Rautio, a member of Köyliö municipal council, was struck off at a board meeting last Saturday after posting that the Oulu gunman should be rewarded as, “there is already a war going on and in every war decorations are handed out”.
Speaking to YLE, Finns Party Satakunta district chairman Seppo Toriseva confirmed that Rautio can only now serve as an independent on the Köyliö municipal council. He added that another two party members were also given warnings for posting offensive comments about the Roma minority on their Facebook profiles.
“Expulsion will come if these postings continue. It doesn’t matter if even more people leave [the party],” Toriseva told YLE.
A 24-year-old gunman killed himself after shooting dead a Moroccan-born pizzeria employee and injuring another man in Oulu on February 18. The police have said there is no evidence that the attack was racially motivated.