A county Republican official in Michigan has apologized for suggesting that there should be a crackdown on “violent protesters” and calling for “another Kent State.”
“Taking a lot of heat for a very poorly worded tweet yesterday,” Marquette County Republican Party secretary Dan Adamini tweeted on Friday. “Sorry folks, the intent was to try to stop the violence, not encourage more.”
“It was stupid, it was poorly done,” Adamini added Sunday in an interview with the Detroit Free Press.
Adamini faced immediate backlash for his posts on Thursday referencing the four students shot and killed in 1970 at Kent State University in Ohio by the Ohio National Guard.
“I’m thinking another Kent State might be the only solution,” Adamini posted on Facebook on Thursday, according to a screencap posted by the Detroit Free Press. “Protest stopped after only one death.”
“Violent protesters who shut down free speech? Time for another Kent State perhaps. One bullet stops a lot of thuggery,” he tweeted the same day.
His Twitter account has since been apparently deleted, but the apology is still accessible via the Internet Archive.
Sarah Anderson, communications director of the Michigan Republican Party, said Adamini’s remarks were “insensitive and out of line.”
“Dan spoke for himself, not on behalf of the party,” she said, as quoted by the Detroit Free Press. “He has, rightfully, apologized.”
Kent State University also released a statement condemning Adamini’s comments.
“This abhorrent post is in poor taste and trivializes a loss of life that still pains the Kent State community today,” the statement obtained by WKYC reads.
Adamini told the Detroit Free Press on Sunday that he has been harassed and received death threats over the posts, which he made on Thursday in response to violent protests at the University of California, Berkeley.
The university cancelled a speech by Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, an outspoken member of the white nationalist “alt-right” movement, after protesters broke windows, started fires, threw Molotov cocktails and threw rocks and fireworks at police to express opposition to Yiannopoulos’ appearance.
“The hatred really has to stop. I’m sorry I played a role in the spawning of hatred,” Adamini told the Detroit Free Press.
“We could be headed toward another Kent State tragedy if we don’t get a handle on the violence,” Adamini said, as quoted in the report. “It sounds like I was calling for violence, but I was actually trying to call for an end to the violence.”
“I never should have tried to say that in 140 characters or in a Facebook post,” he added.
