#BLM #Boulder #Duckworth #Meena #Racist #Racism
Vice President Kamala Harris' niece has deleted a tweet after facing backlash for assuming the Boulder grocery store gunman was white because he was taken into custody alive.
Meena Harris deleted her tweet on Tuesday after police revealed 21-year-old gunman Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, who is accused of shooting dead 10 people a day earlier, is of Syrian descendant.
'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.
'I deleted a previous tweet about the suspect in the Boulder shooting,' she said.
'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.'
The suspect in last week's shootings in Atlanta that left eight people dead was a white man.
Meena immediately faced backlash from some on Twitter.
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.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that he was known to the FBI because he was linked to another person who has been under investigation for something else. They didn't give any more details.
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.
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Sen. Tammy Duckworth has backed down from her public threats not to vote for Joe Biden's straight, white nominees until the White House just a few hours after issuing the ultimatum.
Yesterday, Duckworth warned that until President Biden increased the representation of Asian American - Pacific Islander representation at senior levels of Government, she would be voting against some of his selections for cabinet and judicial nominees.
However, in a statement issued to NBC News, Duckworth's spokesman said: 'Senator Duckworth appreciates the Biden Administration’s assurance that it will do much more to elevate AAPI voiced and perspectives at the highest level of government, including appointing an AAPI senior White House official to represent the community, secure the confirmation of AAPI appointments and advance policy proposals that are relevant to the community.
Duckworth's demands had been joined by Sen. Mazie Hirono yesterday, but she too joined her fellow senator in backing down.
Taking to Twitter last night, she praised the White House for introducing an AAPI liaison, following a 'private conversation' about the importance of diversity with president Biden.
As a result of the conversation, Hirono said she would now continue to vote for the 'historic and highly qualified' nominees put forward by President Biden.
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