After a Kentucky Republican congressman posted a Christmas picture that featured him with seven family members holding large assault rifles and a photo of himself, the outraged public was widespread. This came just days after the Michigan high school shooting massacre.
Rep. Thomas Massie shared the image of himself, his wife, and five of their children hoisting assault rifles at Christmas Tree on Saturday.
Massie added the caption “Merry Christmas!” to the picture, along with a Christmas tree emoticon.
‘PS. (SIC) Santa please bring ammo’, he said, and then added a gift emoticon.
Massie’s photo was widely criticized for its 31.4K Likes, 482 retweets, 17.7K tweets with quotes, and 4,826 retweets in just five hours. tone deaf in the wake of yet another deadly high-profile school shooting, where four students were killed and seven people were injured, including a teacher.
Pictured is the Christmas photo at issue, which shows Massie with his family standing in front of a Christmas tree and armed in assault rifles.
Massie wrote, “Merry Christmas!” and captioned the picture on Twitter. ‘PS. “PS.
Ethan Crumbley (15 years old) was accused of shooting at Oxford High School on Tuesday. His parents, James Crumbley and Jennifer Crumbley were reportedly responsible for giving Crumbley access to a firearm.
Massie’s provocative photo was posted shortly afterwards. The father of the Parkland school shooting victim, Florida, made an appearance on CNN to talk about the Oxford tragedy.
Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin “Guac” Oliver who was among 17 victims at Marjory Stoneman Doug High School in Florida, spoke candidly about Massie and how it represented insensitivity at a time when gun-related tragedies seem to be a common occurrence.
‘That’s a huge part of the problem,’ Oliver said of Massie’s photo.
‘Someone elected leaders like this one that think that — I don’t know if they’re trying to be ironic, funny, or what — but it’s the worst taste ever. … This is a really horrible post.
“Since family photos are being shared, I am sharing mine. This is the last photograph I have taken of Jaime. One is the location where she was buried after the Parkland school shooting.
Rep. Thomas Massie (pictured) holds an iPad that has a January 6 video on it. This was played at a House Judiciary Committee Hearing at the US Capitol in October 21, 2021.
Many Twitter users echoed his sentiments.
‘The students aren’t even buried yet in Michigan from school shooting but this GOP rep wants you to know he won’t let a little thing like kids being murdered to stop him from celebrating guns,’ tweeted Dean Obeidallah.
‘I’m pro second amendment, but this isn’t supporting right to keep and bear arms, this is a gun fetish,’ wrote Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman from Illinois.
One user posted, “@FBI I would like to report next group of mass killings,”
Jeff Tiedrich responded, “Alexa, show us everything wrong with America in just one picture,”
Massie had posted the provocative photograph shortly after Massie made an appearance on CNN discussing the Oxford tragedy.
Jeff Tiedrich said, “Alexa, show us everything wrong with America in just one picture.”
‘Disgusting. It’s disgusting.
Twitter user: “@FBI, i would love to report the next batch of mass murders,”
“MORE OF THIS,” American alt-right activist and alt-lite politician Jack Posobiec tweets about Massie’s controversial photograph
‘Disgusting. You’re so brainwashed that you don’t realize how disturbing it is,” another user wrote.
“We are sharing our family photos. Here are my. Fred Guttenberg, a Twitter user, replied that this is Jaime’s final photo and that the second is of her buried in Parkland after the shooting.
“The Michigan school shooter used to use photos just like yours with his family.”
Jack Posobiec, an alt-right activist and TV correspondent applauded this tweet.
‘MORE OF THIS,’ Posobiec tweeted.