Wausau Mayor Rosenberg and Lt. Gov. Barnes Distance Themselves from Refugee Charged With Sex Crime

February 9, 2022

By M.D. Kittle – Empower Wisconsin

MADISON — Liberals like Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes who have tried to shame critics of President Joe Biden’s chaotic Afghan refugee resettlement project are now scurrying to erase their photo-ops with Matiullah Matie.

The 40-year-old Matie has been arrested on fourth-degree sexual assault charges after being accused of assaulting the volunteer who was helping Matie and his family settle into their new life in Wausau. Police say the volunteer reported that Matie assaulted her in a vehicle last week.

He faces up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted.

Matie was held up by Wausau’s liberal mayor, Barnes and liberal news outlets as the face of what they demand has been a successful resettlement movement. Wausau liberals painted as racist anyone who raised questions about the questionable vetting process of Afghan refugees following the Biden administration’s catastrophic withdrawal last year from Afghanistan.

Mayor Katie Rosenberg told a far left northern Wisconsin publication last month that the refugees shouldn’t have to deal with prejudice “in addition to having to adapt to a new culture, new food, and new language.”

“I’m a little nervous. We’ve had our difficulties talking about equity and diversity here,” Rosenberg said. “There are some nerve-wracking things about that.”

Now, Rosenberg is frantically trying to distance herself from Matie. She hastily removed the promotional photos with the accused that once plastered her official Facebook page. We could no longer find the photo Barnes took with Matie, his children and Rosenberg on Barnes’ official U.S. Senate campaign Twitter account, either.

Barnes does boast about Rosenberg’s recent endorsement.

Wausau conservative talk show host Meg Ellefson, a vocal critic of the virtue-signaling mayor and her liberal policies, has saved some of the photos. She was kind enough to send some to Empower Wisconsin. Ellefson has been covering the story.

Rosenberg issued a statement insisting she was “stunned and heartbroken” to hear about the sexual assault allegations.

“Every person deserves to feel safe and be protected from sexual assault,” the mayor said.

That’s what her fellow Wausau citizens have been trying to tell her. They were called racists and xenophobes.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany warned of security concerns months ago as Biden’s Department of Defense relocated thousands of Afghan refugees to Wisconsin’s Fort McCoy military base.

“For months, I have been sounding the alarm on the Biden administration’s dangerous immigration policies. From our wide-open southern border and a return to the failed “catch and release” policies of the past, to allowing tens of thousands of often poorly vetted Afghan evacuees into our country and sticking local communities with the human and financial costs, the last year has been a disaster across the board,” the Minocqua Republican said in his weekly message to constituents. “In recent months, I’ve raised questions about the role of non-profit groups, resettlement groups, and the role of the UN-affiliated International Organization for Migration in financing the movement of migrants into and around the US.”

Tiffany raised his concerns weeks before two Afghan refugees were charged with violent crimes while residing at Fort McCoy.

Bahrullah Noori, 20 at the time, has been charged with attempting to engage in a sexual act with a minor using force against that person, and with three counts of engaging in a sexual act with a minor, with one count alleging the use of force.

Mohammad Haroon Imaad, 32, was charged with assaulting his spouse by strangling and suffocating her on Sept. 7, the complaint states.