Mary Lemanski has resigned from her role as Social Media Manager of the Democratic Party of DuPage County after being criticized for insensitive tweets she made about yesterday’s parade tragedy in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
“Karma”
In now deleted tweets, Lemanski remarked on her twitter account that the incident, in which an SUV plowed through a parade route leaving at least five dead and injuring more than forty was “Karma” for Wisconsin citizens because of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, as reported by Fox News. Her full tweet read, “I’m sad. I’m sad anytime someone dies. I just believe in Karma and this came around quick on the citizens of Wisconsin.” In another post she wrote, “The blood of Kyle Rittenhouse’s victims is on the hands of Wisconsin citizens, even the children.”
Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all counts after fatally shooting two people and injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 25, 2020, during a night of civil unrest.
Lemanski retweeted a post from Heavy.com that shared a photo of the driver of the SUV who drove through the Christmas parade in Waukesha, commenting, “It was probably just self defense. #Wisconsin #KyleRittenhouse.” She added in another comment “I’m sure he didn’t want to hurt anyone. He came to help people,” referring to an argument Rittenhouse’s defense team had made about why he was in Kenosha at the time of the unrest.
In a tweeted response to a critic of her rhetoric, she said, “You reap what you sow. It’s sad people died, but when you open the door to vigilante justice, everyone seems threatening.”
Lemanski appears to have since deleted her twitter account.
DuPage Democrats Comment
The Democratic Party of DuPage County tweeted today, “We are deeply saddened by the tragedy in Waukesha.We are aware of statements made by a former member of our organization and find them to be incredibly insensitive and not in alignment of who we are as an organization. Our organization does not support hate in any form.”
The group also tweeted out a statement from Democratic Party of DuPage County Chair Ken Mejia-Beal, which reads in part, “The Democratic Party of DuPage County immediately severed all ties with Mary Lemanski once we became aware of her callous and reprehensible posts. She does not speak for us and we unequivocally reject her statements about the tragic events that occurred yesterday in Waukesha.”
Her name no longer appears under the role of social media director on the group’s website.
Republican Response
Greg Hart, a Republican running for DuPage County Board Chairman, criticized Lemanski’s remarks in a statement, saying in part, ” I am utterly disgusted that a leader of the DuPage Democratic Party – Mary Lemanski – would have so little compassion and decency to make light of the tragedy and to say “Wisconsin citizens, even the children” in some way deserved what happened to them. Shame on her.”
Naperville News 17’s Kim Pirc reports
photo: Twitter / @MaryLemanski
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