Illinois Democrat loses job for calling Waukesha massacre 'karma' for Rittenhouse acquittal

The Illinois Democrat who called the Waukesha massacre "karma" for Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal lost her job over the comments. Mary Lemanski tweeted out "It was probably just self-defense" after the news broke that a man had driven his car into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisc.

Lemanski, who has since deleted the tweet, was the social media director for the Democratic Party in DuPage County, Ill. She also tweeted "You reap what you sow. It's sad people died, but when you open the door to vigilante justice, everyone seems threatening."

She was let go, reports the Chicago Tribune, on Monday morning. Chair of the DuPage Democratic party Ken Mejia-Beal said that Lemanski was "let go" shortly Beal was made aware of the tweets.

"I'm sad," Lemanski had stated on Twitter. "I'm sad anytime anyone dies. I just believe in Karma and this came around quick on the citizens of Wisconsin."

"The blood of Kyle Rittenhouse's victims is on the hands of Wisconsin citizens, even the children," Lemanski tweeted.

Lemanski tweeted that the suspect in the rampage, Brooks, "probably felt threatened" and that he "came to help people," adding "I'm sure he didn't want to hurt anyone."

Lemanski tweeted that she resigned. She'd been with the party since about 2017.

"We don't applaud or celebrate tragedy," Meija-Beal said. "This was a tragedy. These were folks that were out at a joyous occasion having a great time at a beautiful and festive time of the year. We, as a party, disavow Mary's Twitter comments, the sentiment behind them. We are with the victims of this tragedy."

Meija-Beal further said that Lemanski's tweets were "callous and reprehensible posts." He said that Lemanski had stated to him that she was remorseful for what she had said.

The DuPage County Republicans joined in the pile-on on Lemanski. Chair Jim Zay said that he was "shocked and outraged" by what Lemanski had said.

"No matter your party affiliation right now all of our thoughts and prayers need to be with those families who lost loved ones and those who are hospitalized that they recover from their injuries," Zay said. "By trying to link one issue to this senseless loss of life during a Christmas parade shows how out of touch and single issued some people can be."

In her own statement, Lemanski said "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."

On Sunday, career criminal Darrell Brooks drove his car into a parade of children and grandmothers, killing five. Waukesha police later confirmed that Brooks' actions were intentional.