Merced City Council ‘supports the KKK,’ member says in posts. ‘That crosses a line’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Fue Xiong posted that the Merced council supports the KKK, prompting backlash.
- Council vote on flying Pan-African, Pride and Christian flags sparked the dispute.
- Colleague asked for apology; Xiong defended linking Christian flag to white supremacy.
Merced City Councilmember Fue Xiong accused his fellow members of supporting the Ku Klux Klan in social media posts over failed votes about flying several commemorative flags in Bob Hart Square.
Xiong also liked a comment on his Instagram post by a member of the public asking for the addresses of other members so the commenter could “straighten (expletive) out.”
“(The meme) says Merced City Council actually supports the KKK. I think that crosses a line,” Council member Mike Harris told The Sun-Star.
The City Council held deliberations on the flying of commemorative flags at Bob Hart Square during their Oct. 6 meeting. Harris made a motion to fly the Pan-African flag during February for Black History Month, the Christian flag during the Easter Holiday, and the Pride flag during the month of June.
All three flags have been previously flown in the square by the City of Merced. Harris’ motion to fly the three flags was passed with a 4-3 vote, with councilmembers Shane Smith, Darin DuPont, and Xiong voting against the motion. However, the vote was made before public comment was taken, and the council had to vote on the measure again.
The Sun-Star attempted to reach Xiong for comment multiple times through call, text, and through the city’s public information officer. He did not return requests for an interview.
Xiong explained at the meeting that his no vote on the initial proposal was due to the proposal to fly the Christian flag, citing separation of church and state. He further criticized the flying of the Christian flag in his posts on social media.
“This Council claims to support diversity with their platitudes, but this is a facade to provide cover for white supremacy given that this Council recently (flew) the Christian flag, a symbol used by White Christian Nationalists and flown during the Jan. 6 Insurrection calling for an ethno-state,” Xiong said in his Oct. 16 Facebook post.
On the subsequent vote, Council member Sarah Boyle changed her vote to a “no,” and the motion to fly the three flags failed 4-3. Xiong made a motion to fly the Pan-African and Pride flags. Xiong’s motion also failed 4-3, with Boyle, DuPont, Smith, and former Council member Ronnie De Anda voting “no.”
The Posts
Ten days after Xiong’s motion failed he took to Facebook and Instagram to criticize the vote’s outcome. His posts saying the vote was to “no longer fly the Pride and Pan-African flags” misrepresents the vote, according to some of his colleagues on the City Council.
“I think it misrepresented our decisions and implied motives that just don’t exist,” Boyle said. “... They weren’t even the agenda item titles. He created his own titles to make it seem like we were voting for something so specific.”
Boyle said she feels the posts Xiong made amount to misinformation.
The post also incorrectly tallied the vote, saying only Mayor Matthew Serratto had joined Xiong in affirming the Pan-African and Pride flags for Bob Hart Square, when Harris also voted “yes” to fly those two flags.
DuPont stated he supports Xiong’s First Amendment rights to make the posts, but also said he felt the posts did not accurately reflect the issue.
“I think it crossed a line because it tries to attack us personally,” he said.
Smith said this isn’t the first time Xiong has taken to social media to “take shots” at fellow council members.
“He’d rather take shots in social media, which is not an effective way to build a coalition or get us to understand his viewpoint,” Smith said. “It’s a way to get likes and follows from certain constituency, which I don’t think is necessarily District 6 residents.”
Serratto called the posts “ridiculous” but declined further comment.
The issue of Xiong’s posts was brought up during the council’s Nov. 3 meeting by Harris, who asked Xiong for an apology to the council and called the post “reprehensible.”
Xiong declined to apologize and contended any vote for the Christian flag is a vote for white supremacy.
“The Christian flag is a symbol that has been used to hide behind white supremacy and the KKK,” Xiong said. “And so in my post… I mentioned that when we approve that flag we are supporting the KKK.”
DuPont told Xiong during the meeting that no flags were approved by the body this year.
Xiong is an environmental engineer who has supported affordable housing causes in Merced. He was elected to the City Council in Nov. 2022.
This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Merced City Council ‘supports the KKK,’ member says in posts. ‘That crosses a line’."
