Kamala Harris’ niece Meena deletes tweet after backlash for assuming Boulder gunman was white because he was taken into custody alive instead of shot dead
- Meena Harris deleted her tweet on Tuesday after police revealed 21-year-old gunman Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa is of Syrian descendant
- Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece had assumed the Boulder gunman was white because he was taken into custody alive
- She immediately faced backlash from some on Twitter
- Alissa was born in Syria and moved to the US when he was three
- He now lives in Arvada, Colorado, around 30 miles from the grocery store he targeted
Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece has deleted a tweet after facing backlash for assuming the Boulder grocery store gunman was white because he was taken into custody alive.
Meena Harris deleted her tweet on Tuesday after police revealed 21-year-old gunman Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, who is accused of shooting dead 10 people a day earlier, is of Syrian descendant.
‘The Atlanta shooting was not even a week ago. Violent white men are the greatest terrorist threat to our country,’ the 36-year-old tweeted in the hours after the massacre.
Meena, who is a mother-of-two, lawyer and children’s book author, then revealed she had deleted that tweet.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena has deleted a tweet after facing backlash for assuming the Boulder grocery store gunman was white because he was taken into custody alive
‘I deleted a previous tweet about the suspect in the Boulder shooting,’ she said.
‘I made an assumption based on his being taken into custody alive and the fact that the majority of mass shootings in the US are carried out by white men.’
The suspect in last week’s shootings in Atlanta that left eight people dead was a white man.
Meena immediately faced backlash from some on Twitter.
Alissa was born in Syria and moved to the US when he was three. He now lives in Arvada, Colorado, around 30 miles from the grocery store he targeted.
He was taken into custody at 3.28pm and was transported to the hospital to be treated for a leg wound. He has since been released from the hospital and is now in Boulder County Jail.
Police have not yet confirmed his motive. He has been charged with ten counts of murder.
In Facebook posts over the last 18 months, he complained about not having a girlfriend, ranted about President Trump and talked about his Islamic faith.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that he was known to the FBI because he was linked to another person who has been under investigation for something else. They didn’t give any more details.
Ahmad Alissa, 21, shown in his booking photo on Tuesday after he was charged with ten counts of murder
Those killed include: Rikki Olds, 25, Teri Leiker, 51, Denny Stong, 20, Neven Stanisic, 23, Tralona Bartkowiak, 49, Suzanne Fountain, 59, Kevin Mahoney, 61, Lynn Murray, 62, and Jody Waters, 65.
Boulder Police officer Eric Talley, 51, was also among those killed after he responded to the shooting.
The Vice President’s niece was criticized last month after it emerged she was still using her aunt’s name to sell her range of feminist sweatshirts – despite being ordered not to by the White House.
Her Phenomenal line was still listed on non-profit retail website Social Goods next to a quote from Harris.
A $59 ‘Ambitious’ sweatshirt appeared next to a line from the Vice-President that reads: ‘There will be a resistance to your ambition, there will be people who say to you, ‘you are out of your lane.’
She was also among those praising last month’s decision to cancel certain Dr Seuss books.
Alissa is shown being led out of the supermarket in handcuffs. He was fully clothed and wearing a green tactical vest inside the store but he stripped down to be arrested
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