Reckless political rhetoric in wake of tragedy must not be tolerated

Thursday, March 30, 2023 | 2 a.m.

We don’t yet know what motivated the massacre of three children and three adults at a private religious elementary school Monday in Nashville, Tenn. What we do know is that the 28-year-old attacker successfully carried out a plot to murder defenseless children and school staff.

The only appropriate response is swift and absolute condemnation followed by an earnest call for action to prevent future violence, including reasonable restrictions on guns.

Which is why all reasonable people must be in disbelief regarding a Twitter post by Josselyn Berry, the spokesperson and press secretary for Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs.

In a Monday night tweet to her personal account, the governor’s press secretary ranted about transphobia in progressive circles. She then posted a still image from the 1980 film “Gloria,” depicting actress Gena Rowlands taking aim with a pistol in each hand. The image was captioned “Us when we see transphobes.”

At one level, Berry’s tweet is a classic example of what is known as “vaguebooking” — a vague and largely incoherent string of thoughts that are likely to be understood by the intended recipient but are indecipherable to third-party readers. Given Berry’s very specific description of transphobia in progressive circles, it’s possible she was not making any overt or direct reference to the Nashville shooting.

And yet, as the press secretary for the governor of Arizona, Berry should have been fully aware that the Nashville shooting had occurred earlier in the day, and that the shooter had been identified as trans. Those facts alone render the tweet in poor taste.

But more than just being out of touch given the tragic events of the day, Berry’s tweet specifically ties an image of guns and violence to a caption that threatens consequences for people she believes are transphobic. That is a dangerous combination that is almost impossible to interpret as anything other than a threat of violence against people who disagree with her.

Berry resigned Wednesday, as she should have. The privacy settings of her account were changed to restrict access, so we could not verify whether the tweet has since been removed. But frankly, it doesn’t matter what her motivations were or whether she later removed the tweet, it was still a dangerous and tone-deaf series of tweets that render her unfit for such a prominent public role.

Berry demonstrated an almost incomprehensible level of poor judgment and in the process appears to advocate for political violence.

Rhetoric and imagery like Berry’s must stop. They create an expectation that it is acceptable to consider killing people over disagreements on politics, culture or identity. That is the path toward utter barbarism.

Nothing good comes from suggesting that political violence is acceptable in America, even in the most veiled terms. Even with a meme on Twitter.

In 2022, the United States had 647 mass shootings — almost two per day.

As we have stated many times in the past, we continue to believe that easily and readily available access to certain types of guns is at the center of America’s epidemic of gun violence. This is especially true with regard to deadly assault rifles designed as weapons of war to efficiently inflict maximum damage.

However, multiple things can be true at once and we also believe that the growing societal acceptance of rhetoric that promotes and normalizes political violence is contributing to a rise in actual political violence.

Any time a person commits violence, threatens violence or tries to intimidate with a political or social goal, they become a terrorist. Yet in some quarters of America today, we are getting too comfortable with a society that embraces terrorism.

Extremist dog whistles can be found in mainstream media outlets, on the floor of Congress, behind the podium of political campaigns and are almost unavoidable in the toxic landscape of social media. Tactics historically reserved for ISIS and the KKK are becoming part of the standard playbook for political extremists.

Less than one year ago, in June, an armed man was arrested outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house and charged with “attempts to kidnap or murder” the justice. One month later, Lee Zeldin, a Republican candidate for governor of New York, was attacked onstage at a rally. In October, a hammer-wielding extremist invaded the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and viciously brutalized her husband. Then in November, armed gunmen wielding the same semiautomatic rifles used in Monday’s massacre “monitored” election drop boxes, leading to more than a dozen reported complaints of voter intimidation.

No doubt, some members of the left have toyed with such rhetoric. But as of today — and we hope tomorrow — there is still a steep political cost to extremist rhetoric on the left and they are ostracized. The same is not true in today’s right wing. Not only is there little political cost to extremist language, it can actually be a fundraising tactic to use violent language about opponents.

Hobbs demonstrated leadership in seeking Berry’s overdue resignation. But merely securing that is not enough. Hobbs and elected officials of all backgrounds, identities and beliefs must speak out and condemn political violence in all forms, including violent rhetoric.