A State Senator Has Apologized For Tweeting “Kill Yourself” To Someone Who Accused Him Of Abusing His Parking Permit – By Tanya Chen (buzzfeed.com) / Dec 18 2018
Kevin Parker, a Democrat, apologized to a GOP aide for his “poor choice of words” but not before going on another Twitter tirade against her.
Democratic New York state Sen. Kevin Parker has publicly apologized for tweeting at a woman to kill herself after she called him out for allegedly misusing a government-issued parking placard, calling the threat “a poor choice of words.”
Parker had apparently tweeted, then quickly deleted, “Kill yourself!” at Candice Giove, the deputy communications director of the New York state Senate Republican majority, after she called him out Tuesday on Twitter for allegedly misusing a parking placard in New York City.
The senator, who represents parts of Brooklyn in New York’s 21st District, apologized just under an hour after he sent the tweet to Giove, saying, “Suicide is a serious thing and and [sic] should not be made light of.”
https://twitter.com/freedlander/status/1075076158868414464
The whole thing started when Twitter user Chesney Parks tweeted a photo of a car with a government-issued placard on the dashboard last Thursday, venting frustration that a member of the New York state Senate was illegally parked and blocking a bike lane.
“The whole of the 2nd ave bike lane btw 43rd and 44th is blocked by @placardabuse-rs, like this arrogant scofflaw from @NYSenate. Total assholes,” the tweet read.
Other angry New York City residents got involved, tweeting at New York state senators and aides demanding someone take responsibility for the car.
Giove was tagged in one of these angry tweets and responded Tuesday saying she “got to the bottom of this,” naming and tagging Sen. Parker as the holder of the placard.
The senator then replied to Giove telling her to kill herself.
“Did a Senator just write this to me?” Giove wrote, retweeting the threat. She did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.
Despite Parker’s attempts to delete his response, and to atone for it, people promptly took screenshots of it and reminded him of how quickly he had escalated things.
https://twitter.com/Hist_Guy/status/1075092149631401985
The words were “Kill yourself!” https://t.co/sDezaR48yZ
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) December 18, 2018
After apologizing for the tweet, the senator took a shot at Giove in an interview with the Daily News, calling her “nothing but an internet troll” and saying he thought the whole ordeal was a “tempest in a teapot.”
“Candice is nothing but an internet troll,” he said. “To call her anything more is fake news. At the end of the day, she is someone who continues to represent the forces of evil and is on the wrong side of history for every important issue facing this state.”
Parker was not yet done.
He then proceeded to tag Giove in a series of tweets accusing her of supporting the GOP when New Yorkers were voting for “progressive legislation like the Dream Act and Cities for Financial Empowerment funding.”
“@Candicegiove is on the wrong side of history for every important issue facing New York State!” Parker then tweeted.
Neither he nor his team immediately responded to inquiries from BuzzFeed News about this incident, and/or whether/when he will stop.
https://twitter.com/holleyr/status/1075094755460165634
