Dem Senator Deletes Tweet Saying Rioting Is Bad: ‘Too Controversial’

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Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, on Thursday tweeted and then deleted a statement denouncing acts of violence by lawbreaking civilians as well as by law enforcement.

The tweet: “This isn’t hard,” Murphy said in the tweet, before declaring that “vigilantism,” “police shooting black people in the back” and “looting and property damage” are “bad.”

  • “You don’t have to choose. You can be against it all,” he said. “You can just be for peace.”

The retreat: However, Murphy, a relative a moderate in his party, quickly felt compelled to make a choice.

  • Replying to criticism from a producer at progressive media company NowThis, Murphy clarified he was not equating murder with property damage.

Then, Murphy deleted his tweet “for peace,” saying he “mistakenly gave the impression that I thought there was an equivalency between property crime and murder.”

“Beyond parody”: A number of commentators derided Murphy for failing to stand up for what he had just characterized as an easy moral position.

Zaid Jilani, a left-wing journalist who is critical of social justice ideology, said Murphy’s rapid backdown was “emblematic of the Democrats,” who have been accused of enabling looting and rioting amid nationwide protests against racism and policing.

  • Citing a new Gallup poll that shows very few Americans support violent protests, he wondered: “But Murphy is too intimidated to stand with 92%?”

The AG Conservative Twitter account described the series of events as “Beyond parody.”

The backstory: As both commentators noted, Murphy has not deleted another of his recent tweets in apparent response to violent protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the shooting of a black man by local police.

  • In that tweet a day earlier, Murphy, like his Democratic colleague from Massachusetts, suggested without evidence that Kyle Rittenhouse is a “deranged white nationalist.”

Rittenhouse, 17-year-old police enthusiast, faces murder charges in connection to shootings during riots on Tuesday in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

  • Cellphone footage, though, suggests Rittenhouse fired the fatal shots only after being chased and attacked.
By We'll Do It Live