Joe Walsh, a Republican congressman who represented an Illinois district from 2011 to 2013, is stirring things up with his reaction to this week's violence. Late Thursday, reacting to the shootings of police officers in Dallas and President Obama's angry response to the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Walsh tweeted, "This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you." The tweet has since been deleted, the Miami Herald reports, but more have followed, including:
- "When Obama goes after cops it opens the door for anti cop rhetoric and action."
- "When will people realize the black lives matter 'movement' is an anti cop objective?"
- "Multiple Cops shot at in Dallas at a #BLM protest. Blood on your hands MN Gov Dayton. Blood on your hands Obama."
- "10 cops shot. This is on Obama."
- "10 Cops shot. You did this Obama. You did this liberals. You did this #BLM. Time to defend our Cops. Wake up."
- "BLM should be categorized as a hate group."
- "4 dead. Obama stoked the flame. BLM did this. Cops are dying."
- "Obama says Cops are racist so 2 uneducated black thugs shoot 10 Dallas Cops tonight, killing 4. Wake up silent majority. Stand w our Cops."
Walsh also referenced his deleted tweet,
insisting that "I wasn't calling for violence, against Obama or anyone. Obama's words & BLM's deeds have gotten cops killed. Time for us to defend our cops." He tells the
AP he stands by the tweet and he claims Twitter deleted it, not him, though Twitter won't confirm that. The latest on the Dallas shootings
here. (More
Dallas police shooting stories.)