July 15, 2024
Doral Chenoweth/Columbus Dispatch/USA Today
An American flag is shown behind the rally site on The Butler Farm Show Grounds where former President Donald Trump was shot on Saturday. Online reactions to the assassination attempt have led several local officials to resign from their positions.
The aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in western Pennsylvania on Saturday was a reminder of how ugly social media can be and that thoughts posted online for the world to see can have real-life consequences — like costing people their jobs.
Three people in public positions in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and the leader of a nonpartisan voting-rights organization in Atlantic County, New Jersey, are among those out of work, either by firing or resigning, since the shootings at Trump's rally in Butler Township. The former president was struck in the ear by a bullet that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired from a nearby rooftop. Another man in the crowd, Corey Comperatore, was shot and killed and two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were injured by gunfire. A Secret Service sniper stationed on another roof shot and killed Crooks before Trump was led off the stage and the shocking news began to spread around the world.
About an hour after the shooting, Upper Darby council member Jess Branas, posted on her personal Facebook page, "A for effort." Branas' post was picked up by Libs of TikTok on X, formerly Twitter, an influential conservative account whose posts are "designed to generate outrage" on the right.
Branas, a Democrat who also worked as an aide for state Rep. Heather Boyd, lost her Harrisburg job in the fallout of her Facebook post, she told the Delaware County Daily Times. She claimed the post was not in reference to the assassination attempt but about burning steaks she had been grilling with friends.
"It was taken out of context," said Branas, who said she received hundreds of comments harassing her after her post went viral.
Boyd didn't mention Branas by name, but wrote on X that the matter had been "dealt with swiftly."
In Prospect Park, Jim Simmonds, the borough's fire chief and fire marshal resigned Sunday night amid backlash to his Facebook post that read, "A little to the right next time please." The post has since been deleted.
The fire company accepted Simmonds resignation and shared a link to a GoFundMe page to support the family of Comperatore, who was a former volunteer fire chief in Buffalo Township, Butler County.
"The Prospect Park Fire Company does not condone this type of behavior by our members or our leadership," chairman Joe Magee said. "We are deeply saddened by Chief Simmonds comments and agreed that it would be best if he stepped down in his role as Chief."
In Radnor, Sierra Clark, secretary of the board of the Wayne Business Association, resigned after commenting, "I hope he dies," on a post about the shooting.
"We were made aware last night that one of our board members expressed troubling thoughts through her social media posts," WBA leaders said. "We sincerely apologize for any harm or offense caused by these posts. We have no tolerance for this type of messaging, and it in no way represents what the Wayne Business Association stands for, nor the views of our board and membership."
And in New Jersey, the Globe reported Sunday that Victoria Druding from the Atlantic County chapter of the League of Women Voters resigned after writing to social media: "Trump was shot!!! Unfortunately, he was only grazed."
Druding initially said she would resign, but then tried to walk it back. She deleted the post on Sunday and called it a "stupid error in judgment," but by then a number of local leaders had seen and shared what she wrote.
"This lady is the head of Atlantic County League of Women Voters! And people question why no one wants to get involved with them. She should be ashamed of her comments," said Don Purdy, the Atlantic County chair of the Republican Party and he shared a screen shot of Druding's deleted post
In a statement, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey condemned Druding's post calling it "inexcusable" and not representative of the values of the voting organization.
Political leaders have spent the last two days urging Americans to tone down their partisan language.
"There is no place in America for this kind of violence or for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalized," President Joe Biden said during a televised address from the Oval Office on Sunday night. "You know, the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It's time to cool it down. And we all have a responsibility to do that."
