Ohio lawmaker Candice Keller blames gay marriage, ‘drag queen advocates’ for Dayton shooting
By Joshua Rhett Miller
New York Post
August 5, 2019
A lawmaker in Ohio blamed the breakdown of the “traditional American family,” gay marriage and “drag queen advocates” for the Dayton massacre in a since-deleted Facebook rant.
State Rep. Candice Keller — a Republican from Middletown, about 25 miles southwest of Dayton — listed a slew of reasons why she believes Connor Betts, 24, gunned down nine people, including his sister, with an assault-style rifle early Sunday.
“After every mass shooting, the liberals start the blame game,” Keller wrote in the Facebook post, which had been removed as of early Monday. “Why not place the blame where it belongs?”
Keller’s post goes on to blame “drag queen advocates,” failed school policies, violent video games and children who are raised without fathers as other reasons for the mass shooting that erupted less than 24 hours after 20 people were gunned down at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
The post also claimed that a growing “hatred of our veterans,” a Democratic Congress and a rising culture that “totally ignores the importance of God and the church” were other explanations for the shooting.
Keller then criticized state lawmakers for having what she claims is “no interest whatsoever” in learning about the Constitution, especially the Second Amendment, as well as “snowflakes who can’t accept a duly-elected President,” according to the post.
“Did I forget anybody?” Keller continued. “The list is long. And the fury will continue.”
A message seeking comment from Keller early Monday was not immediately returned.
The post quickly caught the attention of several other Ohio politicians, including a councilman in Cincinnati who posted the phone number of Keller’s office in Columbus and urged people to “let her know” what they thought of her post.
The top Republican in Butler County also denounced Keller’s remarks, saying it wasn’t the right time to cast blame.
“Some want to politicize these events, and I cannot condone such comments and behavior,” Butler County Republican Party chairman Todd Hall told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones also voiced his disapproval of Keller’s take, posting a screenshot of the lawmaker’s comments late Sunday, just hours after he announced that officers in his department would “make themselves more visible” in the wake of the shooting.
“Shame shame shame Candice Keller,” Jones wrote.
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