Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh blames Obama and Black Lives Matter for Dallas shootings
Avneet Dhillon | CBC News | Posted: July 8, 2016 7:51 PM | Last Updated: July 8, 2016
His 'Real America is coming after you' tweet to the president outraged some Twitter users
As news emerged Thursday evening of a deadly shooting in Dallas that killed five police officers, one former congressman wasted no time placing the blame on the U.S. president.
In a tweet that has since been removed, former Republican congressman Joe Walsh threatened "war" on both Obama and Black Lives Matter protesters, blaming them for causing the shootings due to their "anti-cop" rhetoric.
Walsh told the Chicago Tribune the tweet was up for an hour before Twitter suspended his account. It was reopened on the condition that they delete the tweet.
"They said the tweet might look like it might incite violence," Walsh told the newspaper.
Walsh's tirade
Walsh has not apologized or stopped tweeting since last night's attack. He claims Black Lives Matter is an incendiary group that promotes violence and that Obama does the same. Walsh called for Americans to stand up to "cop haters."
The backlash
After the "Watch out Obama" tweet was deleted, Walsh said on Twitter that he wasn't trying to promote violence.
Responses to Walsh's tweets were swift, with users calling him out for threatening the president.
Walsh continued his Twitter tirade Friday morning.
Twitter user Mike Drucker attempted to counter the tone of Walsh's tweets, posting a photo that was shared by Dallas police before the shooting began.