Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Thursday appeared to blame the Jersey City shooting on “white supremacy” even though the attackers have been identified as members of an extremist “anti-white and anti-Semitic” movement, The New York Post reported.
The Muslim congresswoman retweeted on her personal account a photo of one of the victims of Tuesday’s shooting, 24-year-old Moshe Deutsch, with the caption: “This is heartbreaking. White Supremacy Kills.”
Twitter users were quick to call out Tlaib before she deleted the tweet.
Reached for comment, Tlaib’s spokesman directed The Post to official account.
“It was beyond heartbreaking to learn of what appears to be another anti-Semitic act of violence. The hate growing in our country is toxic,” the tweet on her official account said.
“We must do so much more to fight it and stem the tide of gun violence. My love goes out to the victims, the first responders, their families, and the community of #JerseyCity.”
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal confirmed on Thursday that the shooting was being investigated as an “act of domestic terrorism, fueled both by anti-Semitism, and anti-law enforcement beliefs."
Since being elected to Congress, Tlaib has already been involved in several controversial incidents.
Tlaib claimed in an interview in May that Palestinian Arabs living in the British Mandate prior to the establishment of the State of Israel “provided” a safe haven to Jews after the Holocaust.
In addition, when asked in a past television interview whether she would vote against military aid to Israel when she goes to Congress, Tlaib replied, “Absolutely.”
In August, Israel announced it would bar entry to Tlaib and fellow Muslim Congress woman Ilhan Omar over their support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The two later held a joint press conference in which they verbally attacked both President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.