The co-chair of the Colorado Springs chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado has stepped down after posting a statement on Facebook that mentioned shooting Donald Trump supporters.

Loring Wirbel, who wrote that Donald Trump supporters should be told “I will have to shoot you before election day,” told the Colorado Springs Gazette Thursday that the post was misinterpreted, but he understands why people found the statement offensive.

“It was intended totally as a joke,” Wirbel said. “They are taking that stuff out of context. It’s smear politics.”

Wirbel’s reference to Trump was posted alongside a USA Today opinion article that accused the Republican front-runner of using fear to grow his popularity, according to the Gazette.

“The thing is, we have to really reach out to those who might consider voting for Trump and say, ‘this is Goebbels,'” Wirbel wrote, comparing Trump to the infamous Nazi propagandist. ” ‘This is the final solution. If you are voting for him I will have to shoot you before election day.’ They’re not going to listen to reason, so when justice is gone, there’s always force, as Laurie (Anderson) would say.”

Wirbel’s resignation was set in motion when Daniel Cole, executive director of the El Paso County Republican Party, reposted the ACLU member’s comment on Facebook, according to the Gazette. He questioned whether the rhetoric was appropriate considering Wirbel’s position atop an organization that pushes for free speech and voting rights.

“I think it’s outrageous on its face,” Cole told the paper. “It’s beyond belief that he would think it was acceptable to post something like that.”

Cole added that post was even more troubling because it originated in a community that recently experienced mass gun violence at a local Planned Parenthood clinic.

Wirbel handed in his resignation on Friday, according to the Gazette.

A statement released by the ACLU of Colorado said it “did not condone” Wirbel’s post.

“Our members, supporters, and volunteers are free to express their own personal views and opinions in their personal lives. We have fought for decades to preserve that right, as well, for all Coloradans, no matter how strongly we disagree with the content,” the statement said.