Rep. Ilhan Omar is facing backlash for claiming there are different ‘narratives’ for responses to mass shooters based on their race or ethnicity in the wake of the Boulder grocery store massacre.
The Minnesota congresswoman tweeted on Tuesday that a gunman’s ‘race or ethnicity’ appeared to be the main focus when the perpetrator was not white.
‘The shooter’s race or ethnicity seems front and center when they aren’t white. Otherwise, it’s just a mentally ill young man having a bad day,’ Omar said.
‘Narratives drive our responses to awful crimes committed against innocent people, pay attention to these responses and who is targeted.’
Many on social media had initially believed the gunman responsible for the Boulder massacre that left 10 dead was a white man.
The Minnesota congresswoman tweeted on Tuesday that a gunman’s ‘race or ethnicity’ appeared to be the main focus when the perpetrator was not white
Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted on Tuesday that a gunman’s ‘race or ethnicity’ appeared to be the main focus when the perpetrator was not white. The 21-year-old Boulder gunman, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, is of Syrian descendant
Critics immediately slammed Omar and referenced one of her tweets (above) from a week earlier where she mentioned how the Atlanta shooting that left eight people dead was carried out by a white man
It has since been revealed that the 21-year-old gunman, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, is of Syrian descendant.
Critics immediately slammed Omar and referenced one of her tweets from a week earlier where she mentioned how the Atlanta shooting that left eight people dead was carried out by a white man.
Omar had tweeted after the Atlanta massacre: ‘It isn’t hard to understand why it’s so normalized for law enforcement to protect the humanity of white mass murderers and their willingness to continually make excuses them.’
Among the backlash – mainly from conservatives – against Omar was from those telling the congresswoman to take her own advice and accusing her of spreading misinformation.
‘This literally works both ways, @IlhanMN so take your own advice. Maybe that’s how we find justice instead of hyperventilating to blame each other about everything all the time. I invite you – as a leader – to take the first step and then keep walking forward,’ RedState editor-at-large Kira Davis tweeted.
Pluribus editor Jeryl Bier wrote: ‘Based on the coverage I have seen and the tweets I have read, this tweet sounds like it comes from an alternate universe.’
Washington Free Beacon executive editor Brent Scher hit back saying the race of the Boulder gunman was the focus when people had assumed he was white.
‘This shooter’s race and ethnicity was front and center yesterday when we didn’t even know what it was and just assumed it was white,’ he said.
The backlash against Omar came as Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece deleted a tweet after she was criticized for assuming the gunman was white because he was taken into custody alive.
Meena Harris deleted her tweet shortly after the ethnicity of the gunman was confirmed.
‘The Atlanta shooting was not even a week ago. Violent white men are the greatest terrorist threat to our country,’ the 36-year-old tweeted in the hours after the massacre.
In a follow up tweet, Meena, who is a mother-of-two, lawyer and children’s book author, said: ‘I deleted a previous tweet about the suspect in the Boulder shooting.
‘I made an assumption based on his being taken into custody alive and the fact that the majority of mass shootings in the US are carried out by white men.’
Alissa was born in Syria and moved to the US when he was three. He now lives in Arvada, Colorado, around 30 miles from the grocery store he targeted.
He was taken into custody at 3.28pm and was transported to the hospital to be treated for a leg wound. He has since been released from the hospital and is now in Boulder County Jail.
Police have not yet confirmed his motive. He has been charged with ten counts of murder.
In Facebook posts over the last 18 months, he complained about not having a girlfriend, ranted about President Trump and talked about his Islamic faith.
Those killed include: Rikki Olds, 25, Teri Leiker, 51, Denny Stong, 20, Neven Stanisic, 23, Tralona Bartkowiak, 49, Suzanne Fountain, 59, Kevin Mahoney, 61, Lynn Murray, 62, and Jody Waters, 65.
Boulder Police officer Eric Talley, 51, was also among those killed after he responded to the shooting.
The Vice President earlier on Tuesday called the mass shooting ‘tragic’ and ‘absolutely baffling’.
‘It’s tragic. Absolutely tragic,’ Harris told reporters in her ceremonial office after she swore in William Burns as CIA director.
‘It’s absolutely baffling, it’s 10 people going about their day living their lives, not bothering anybody. A police officer who is performing his duties, and with great courage and heroism.’
Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena deleted a tweet after facing backlash for assuming the Boulder grocery store gunman was white because he was taken into custody alive
