Kamala Harris’s niece deleted a tweet Tuesday in which she had presumed the alleged Boulder, Colorado gunman was white.
“The Atlanta shooting was not even a week ago,” Meena Harris tweeted on Monday. “Violent white men are the greatest terrorist threat to our country.”
When it was revealed that the alleged gunman was a 21-year old named Ahmed Al Aliwhi Alissa who was reportedly born in Syria and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 3, Harris deleted her tweet. She wrote a mea culpa explaining that she made her assumption based on “the majority of mass shootings are carried out by white men.”
I deleted a previous tweet about the suspect in the Boulder shooting. I made an assumption based on his being taken into custody alive and the fact that the majority of mass shootings in the U.S. are carried out by white men.
— Meena Harris (@meenaharris) March 23, 2021
Critics blasted Harris on social media for engaging in what many argued was a form of racial profiling.
Media reporter and author of the Fourthwatch newsletter Steve Krakauer accused Harris of spreading misinformation.
The Vice President’s niece is spreading misinformation and inflaming tensions after a tragic shooting. I guess this doesn’t matter, but if it were happening during the last administration, it would be national news. https://t.co/ROyZ9RwZ3s
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) March 23, 2021
Police have not yet identified a motive in the shooting.
