Updated: December 23, 2013, 1:30 PM
Former Massachusetts Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez (R) attacked two Republican activists on Facebook saying they and their small “‘Klan’ are an embarrassment to our civil society.”
Gomez, writing on his Facebook page, criticized GOP activist Rob Eno and Worcester, Massachusetts official Chris Pinto. In the Facebook comment, now deleted, Gomez wrote:
Text:
I thank God everyday for people like Chris Pinto and Rob Eno because they serve as perfect examples for my kids of who and what not to be when they grow up…the level of ignorance and intolerance exhibited by them and their small “Klan” are an embarrassment to our civil society. Merry Christmas.
It’s not clear what provoked Gomez’s Facebook comment.
Eno posted a response on the Republican blog RedMassGroup:
Eno said Pinto merely shared a photo of a letter to the editor published in the Worcester Telegram, which apparently provoked the response from Gomez. Eno also said Pinto was a supporter of Gomez’s during the campaign, spending his time driving around Worcester County to put up signs, and making hundreds of phone calls.
Pinto also released a statement published by the GoLocalWorcester.com:
As some of you may know the former candidate for US Senate in Massachusetts recently made vile and defamatory statements against myself and Mr. Rob Eno, who runs the conservative website Red Mass Group. I had considered not saying anything about this publicly but now that the horse is out of the barn I find it necessary to defend my reputation especially when it comes to the “Klan” comment that he made about me.
My feeling on gun control and the Klan are well documented.
Pinto is likely referring to a column published in the Worcester Telegram, which argues the National Rifle Association was founded by “religious leaders who wanted to protect freed slaves from the Ku Klux Klan.”
In a followup interview with The Boston Globe Gomez said he was not referring to the Ku Klux Klan.
“If I wanted to refer to the Ku Klux Klan, I would have just said KKK,” Gomez told the Boston newspaper.
Gomez his post was provoked by members of the Red Mass Group community and other activists questioning whether he, former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), and Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker (R) are true Republicans, according to the Globe.
