A video showed the moment a translator instructed a Somali woman to express her support for a Democratic city council candidate.
Immigration lawyer and anti-ICE activist Kiernan Majerus-Collins, a Ward 5 candidate, was seemingly endorsed after a translator appeared to prompt a resident, Habiba Salada, to support him.
The viral video from Lewiston city's council meeting on Tuesday showed what appeared to be the translator telling Salada what to say, while not directly translating her answers.
In a video posted and translated by the Maine Wire, Salada approached the stand and whispered to the translator: 'I don't know what to say.'
'What should I say? Please tell me,' she asked again.
'Say her name,' the translator told her, before repeating it to the council.
'What is this group?' Salada then whispered.
In response, she asked where the woman lived, to which she responded Lewiston, Ward 5.
The Somali translator then spoke into the microphone, responding, 'I live in Ward 5.'
Salada, seemingly confused, asked what the name of the man she was showing support for.
A Somali translator appeared to prompt resident Habiba Salada to support Ward 5 candidate Kiernan Majerus-Collins
Hundreds of residents gathered to share their support for each candidate
'I don't really remember, please help me. I can't remember. Tell me. please,' she begged.
The translator is heard smugly chuckling, where she then speaks English into the microphone, mistranslating, 'I am supporting, I forgot how to pronounce his name.'
Salada then says, 'I don't remember his name, but the white man who is the candidate.'
The translator speaks into the microphone again, changing her words, and says, 'The white lawyer.'
The crowd erupted into laughter as council members had to tell the audience to calm down.
'No for real, please be quiet, thank you,' the man is heard declaring.
Majerus-Collins is an immigration and civil rights lawyer who was running for the Maine House to lower the cost of living, defend the rights of immigrants, and fight for Lewiston.
His campaign circulated around main issues like cost of living, immigrant rights, affordable housing, climate change, and artificial intelligence concerns.
Kiernan Majerus-Collins, Former Judicial Law Clerk at United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The video sparked outrageous reaction on social media, with people commenting, 'I can hardly believe this is real.'
Another wrote, 'They laugh as if it's a joke....pathetic.'
'Definitely some corruption going on there. Let’s go to DOJ,' another added.
Half the attendees advocated for Majerus-Collins, while the others supported Eryn Soule-Leclair, who was a previous representative of the fifth ward, and is supportive of ICE officials.
But in a late Tuesday vote, the Lewiston City Council rejected both candidates and ignored all endorsements, and chose youth worker Chrissy Noble to fill the seat.
