Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized those sending their “thoughts and prayers” in the wake of the New Zealand mosque massacres, invoking the National Rifle Association and other shootings in places of worship.
“What good are your thoughts [and] prayers when they don’t even keep the pews safe?” the New York Democrat tweeted with video of the New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sending her “thoughts” to all those affected by the violence.
At 1st I thought of saying, “Imagine being told your house of faith isn’t safe anymore.”
But I couldn’t say “imagine.”
Because of Charleston.
Pittsburgh.
Sutherland Springs.What good are your thoughts & prayers when they don’t even keep the pews safe?pic.twitter.com/2mSw0azDN8
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 15, 2019
The freshman congresswoman listed the 2015 Charleston shooting at Emmanuel A.M.E. Church, the 2017 Sutherland Springs shooting at the First Baptist Church, and the 2018 Pittsburgh shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue.
Ocasio-Cortez clarified that her remark was not directed at Ardern, but was referencing the NRA’s use of the phrase after mass shootings in the U.S.
[Related: Blumenthal blames Trump for New Zealand massacres]
“(‘Thoughts and prayers’ is reference to the NRA’s phrase used to deflect conversation away from policy change during tragedies. Not directed to PM Ardern, who I greatly admire.),” she wrote.
(“Thoughts and prayers” is reference to the NRA’s phrase used to deflect conversation away from policy change during tragedies. Not directed to PM Ardern, who I greatly admire.)
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 15, 2019
Four people are in custody after the shootings in two mosques in Christchurch killed 49 people.
