The Daily Montanan
State lawmaker Braxton Mitchell said it was not his intention to spread misinformation when he shared a post to his Instagram story late Thursday night calling the Uvalde school shooter “a deranged trans 18 yr old.”
The 22-year-old Columbia Falls Republican shared a since-deleted post by conservative author David J. Harris Jr. that falsely claimed the Uvalde shooter was transgender. Authorities have identified the shooter as Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old male. There is no evidence that the Uvalde shooter was transgender.
On Tuesday, Ramos entered Robb Elementary in the small rural town of Uvalde, Texas, with an AR-15 and opened fire, killing 19 children and two teachers. A Border Patrol officer fatally shot Ramos when law enforcement responded.
Harris Jr. had quoted a tweet from former President Barack Obama: “As we grieve the children of Uvalde today, we should take time to recognize that two years have passed since the murder of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer. His killing stays with us all to this day, especially those who loved him.”
Obama made the post on Thursday, two days after the Uvalde massacre and one day after the anniversary of the killing of Floyd, whose death sparked sustained protests across the country.
In his post, Harris Jr. criticized Obama’s tweet: “A deranged trans 18 yr old that murdered innocent children has ZERO to do with George Floyd! But thanks for exposing your ugly race-baiting, divisive heart once again...
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