Rep. Rashida Tlaib blasted white supremacy after the recent New Jersey shooting targeting Jews, which was perpetrated by Black Hebrew Israelites.
"This is heartbreaking. White supremacy kills," the Michigan Democrat said Thursday in response to the shooting in a now-deleted tweet.
The Tuesday rampage resulted in six deaths after a massive gun battle with police that left an officer, three civilians, and the suspects dead. An investigation after the shooting found the suspects, 47-year-old David Anderson and 50-year-old Francine Grahm, intentionally targeted a kosher deli. An ensuing gunfight between police and the attackers lasted hours.
According to a law enforcement official, at least one of the suspects had written anti-Semitic posts online, and a manifesto was found in their car. The attackers were part of a group called the Black Hebrew Israelites, which has been labeled as a hate group.
The Black Hebrew Israelites are a cult that believes that black people are the true descendants of Jews and that none of the 12 tribes are white. Many in the religious group consider those a part of Orthodox Judaism to be fake Jews.
Tlaib, 43, has been accused of anti-Semitism for comments she has made attacking Israel. The Democrat is a staunch defender of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement. In July, the freshman Democrat compared boycotting Israel to the U.S. boycotting Nazi Germany during World War II.
She was later barred from visiting the country because of her support for the BDS movement but was subsequently told she would be allowed to visit her dying grandmother in the West Bank if she refrained from promoting boycotts against Israel while there. However, she went on to decline the offer, saying the terms set "oppressive conditions."
Last week, Tlaib was one of only four Democrats to oppose a resolution calling for a two-state solution. In a speech she gave on the floor defending her position, the freshman congresswoman accused the Israeli government of being racist.
"This resolution not only endorses an unrealistic, unattainable solution, one that Israel has made impossible, but also one that legitimatizes inequality, ethnic discrimination, and inhumane conditions," Tlaib said, claiming that Israel was trying to make a "separate but equal" mentality between Jews and Palestinians.
Tlaib has also been criticized for posing with terrorist sympathizers. In January, she was photographed with a Hezbollah supporter, and in September she posed for a photo with a youth group that advocates for violence against Israel.
