Citizens call for Decatur City Councilman Hunter Pepper’s resignation

DECATUR, Ala. (WAFF) - A vocal Decatur resident asked councilman Hunter Pepper to resign during Monday’s city council meeting. Decatur native Shane Sieweke asked Pepper to resign, claiming the councilman has shown a history of controversial comments online.

Most recently, Pepper reacted to a WAFF 48 Facebook post about a Dutch man facing sexual assault charges. He reacted to the post with a laughing emoji, sparking negative reactions from constituents.

Siewke said he was shocked to see the reaction from his councilman.

“I found out that my councilman was laughing at an article about rape,” he said. “It’s not funny. When asked to speak up by constituents and answer for his actions, the only the only thing he did was block people.”

Pepper did not believe the post to be as big a deal as it was made. He believes people are trying to get attention.

“We have such a soft world now that individuals can’t handle certain things, and I get it,” he said. “I think that people who are trying to get their ten minutes of fame, which I do believe that they are, I think that they need to learn a trait of minding their own business.”

Despite his thoughts, Pepper told WAFF 48 that he welcomes a conversation with anyone who was genuinely offended by his post.

This was not the first time Pepper has been under fire for social media use. In 2021, the councilman apologized after a post he made about protestors in 2018 resurfaced. The councilman was also in the spotlight when an email chain between him and other city leaders went public.

At the meeting, Sieweke asked the council to impeach Pepper. Council president Jacob Ladner said this action is not in the power of the city council. He added there are “multiple avenues” that Decatur residents can take if they would like to pursue it further.

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