Local Dem Official Resigns After Joking About Waukesha Incident

The former social media manager for the Democratic Party in DuPage County, Illinois, resigned after coming under fire for joking about the deadly Waukesha incident on Twitter not long after the event, according to the New York Post.

Mary Lemanski resigned Monday after she made a series of now-deleted jokes on Twitter about the incident in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in which at least five people were killed when someone drove a car into a parade. She referenced the recent acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, who claimed self-defense in a deadly shooting at a protest, saying the incident in Waukesha "was probably just self-defense."

She went on to say, "Living in Wisconsin, he probably felt threatened," and added, "I'm sure he didn't want to hurt anyone. He came to help people."

Lemanski later wrote: "I'm sad anytime anyone dies. I just believe in Karma and this came around quick on the citizens of Wisconsin," and said, "You reap what you sow. It's sad people died, but when you open the door to vigilante justice, everyone seems threatening."

She said on Twitter on Monday morning: "I'm going to Hell because I already made a deal with the Devil that nobody else on Earth will go to Hell if I go. So, you're welcome."

Lemanski later resigned from her post as the Democratic Party of DuPage County's social media manager in a statement apologizing for her tweets.

"I firmly believe in the right to freedom of speech. I also believe that you must be willing to accept responsibility and the consequences of your actions for that free speech. I unfortunately made some remarks that were not in good taste regarding the Waukesha tradgedy (sic) yesterday. I am accepting the consequences of my free speech, and so I have resigned as Social Media Manager and the Democratic Party of DuPage County has accepted by resignation."

The DuPage Democratic Party said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened by the tragedy in Waukesha. We believe that violence is wrong. 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 a (sic) organization or our values. Our organization does not support hate in any form."

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