NRA Posts Appallingly Insensitive July Fourth Greeting Day Of Mass Shooting

As police in Illinois hunted America’s latest mass shooter on Monday, the National Rifle Association left up a tweet crediting “armed citizens” for Independence Day.

“The only reason you’re celebrating Independence Day is because citizens were armed,” said the tweet, posted early in the day and still up Monday evening.

In Highland Park, Illinois, at least six people will never again celebrate July Fourth  because they were killed by a lone “armed citizen,” who, according to police, fired from a rooftop into a Fourth of July parade. Dozens of others were injured.

The NRA tweet remained up while residents of the town were sheltering in place during the manhunt for the shooter.

A tweet by another lobbying group, the Gun Owners of America, was possibly even more tasteless.

“This long weekend brought to you by armed citizens,” gushed the message. The organization either wasn’t aware that other citizens’ holiday weekends had been permanently terminated — or didn’t care.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Darren Bailey, the GOP nominee for Illinois governor who was recently endorsed by Donald Trump , suggested in a video after the shooting that people “move on and celebrate the independence of this nation!”

As people waved campaign signs for Bailey in the clip, he did suggest praying for the families of the victims and law enforcement.

After serious blowback, Bailey’s office released a statement from the politician saying: “I apologize if in any way we diminished the pain being felt across our state today.”

“I am heartbroken by today’s tragic events and the pain and loss felt by so many. My intent was to pray for the victims and those affected by today’s tragedy and for the shooter to be caught and prosecuted without further loss,” the statement read.  

In 2020, Bailey’s team held a fundraiser featuring a raffle for a semi-automatic rifle , Vice reported  on Monday.