The home secretary’s parents immigrated from Kashmir, and Khan’s from Pakistan.
Earlier this year, Mahmood told the BBC that friends and family had recently experienced racist slurs “when they had gone 20 years without hearing those words said to them”.
“I think we’re living in a more divisive, more polarised world. I think social media has a lot to do with sending hateful, divisive stuff through the algorithms,” she said, speaking in January.
Johnson did not refer to them directly in his post, but the image he shared of them included the caption: “One changing our capital city, the other bringing in Islam in the thousands.”
The Facebook post, before it was removed, had received 14,000 interactions and more than 3,000 comments.
He is the county councillor for Three Fields and Great Notley, which includes MDP Wethersfield, where hundreds of asylum seekers are accommodated.
The Reform leader of Essex County Council Peter Harris has also been approached for comment.
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