Recent days have seen the United States mourning in the aftermath of two mass shootings that occurred over the weekend in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas.
According to CNN , these shootings claimed the lives of 31 people, with 22 dead in El Paso and nine in Dayton.
Naturally, when such tragedies occur, people find themselves scrambling for an explanation for why these shootings keep happening. For, if we can determine a root cause, we can better find a way to prevent them in the future.
But while there are often various factors at play, one Ohio Congress representative’s perception of them has not only been widely criticized as wrong-headed, but worthy of her resignation.
For years, Candice Keller of Middletown, Ohio has been as outspoken about her conservatism as one can be.
As The New York Times reported , some of her previous statements have seen her call for the ban of sanctuary cities protecting undocumented residents from deportation, compare Planned Parenthood employees to Nazis, and deride gun control activists.
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A recent post on Facebook that is no longer publicly available, however, has sparked outrage from Democrats and Republicans alike.
In it, she lays blame for mass shootings on the “Breakdown of the traditional American family” that she attributes to “fatherlessness”, unspecified “drag queen advocates,” same-sex marriage, and the also unspecified “transgender.”
She did not share whatever reasoning has her linking LGBTQ+ advocacy to mass shootings.
However, her list of perceived catalysts for mass shootings hardly ends there.
Echoing President Donald Trump’s recent statements , she also perceived suggestions that violent video games have no reliable link to real-life violence as contributing to the rise of mass shootings.
In one puzzling moment, she also ascribed at least a portion of blame to acceptance of recreational marijuana.
Again, Keller did not elaborate on what this cultural trend had to do with mass shootings.
Among her list of grievances are former president Barack Obama, who she accused of disrespecting law enforcement, and Democratic Congress members, whom she accused of being anti-Semitic.
By her own admission, her list is long and was apparently crafted as a response to a liberal blame game she apparently anticipated.
Considering her reference to the Second Amendment, she was likely referring to calls for gun control.
Even colleagues who may not see gun control as the answer, however, sought to condemn her statements.
According to Cincinnati.com , among them were Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones and Ohio GOP leader Jane Timken, who both called for Keller’s resignation.
Timken called Keller’s post “shocking and utterly unjustifiable,” saying, “Our nation is reeling from these senseless acts of violence and public servants should be working to bring our communities together, not promoting divisiveness.”
The post also inspired understandable criticism from LGBTQ+ voices on Twitter, including Chris Seelbach of the Cincinnati City Council.
Not only did the idea of blaming this community for mass shootings seem baseless, but Butler County’s democratic chairman Brian Hester pointed out such a concept disrespected LGBT victims of mass shootings.
The massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando stands out as a clear example.
At present, Keller has not publicly responded to any of these calls for her resignation.
So far, she has simply confirmed to Cincinnati.com that she was the author of the post and that it remains on her Facebook account despite no longer being publicly visible.
h/t: Cincinnati.com , The New York Times