CBS has fired the company’s lead attorney after she responded to Sunday night’s horrific shooting in Las Vegas by essentially saying the victims deserved to die.
Conversing with friends and follows about the tragic event, Hayley Geftman-Gold wrote on her Facebook page that she was not sympathetic to the 59 concert goers who lost their lives in the heinous attack.
Why?
Because, she reasoned, most of them were likely Republicans.
“If they wouldn’t do anything when children were murdered I have no hope that Repugs will ever do the right thing,” Geftman-Gold wrote, referring here to the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and the inaction of politicians since to enact any kind of gun control legislation.
This, by itself, would not have caused much of an uproar.
Plenty of folks are pessimistic about the prospects of Congress defying the NRA and passing new gun laws.
But then Geftman-Gold wrote the following:
“I’m actually not even sympathetic bc country music fans often are Republican gun toters.”
Yeah.
YIKES.
The wildly inappropriate comments were deleted soon after they went live… but not before they were picked up on a number of right-wing blogs and websites.
From there, a petition was posted online that called for the lawyer’s firing, a decision CBS Corp. went forward with on Monday night.
Said a spokesperson for the company:
“This individual, who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS.
“Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS.
“Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families.”
Geftman-Gold did not attempt to defend her remarks, either.
“Earlier today I posted an indefensible post in a Facebook discussion thread concerning the tragic Las Vegas shooting, a statement I sincerely regret,” she wrote in response to this scandal, elaborating as follows:
“I am deeply sorry for diminishing the significance of every life affected by Stephen Paddock’s terrorism last night and for the pain my words have inflicted on the loved ones of the victims.
“My shameful comments do not reflect the beliefs of my former employer, colleagues, family, and friends.
“Nor do they reflect my actual beliefs – this senseless violence warrants the deepest empathy.
“I understand and accept all consequences that my words have incurred.”
As has been covered in depth, Stephen Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino late Sunday night.
He killed 59 people attending a country music festival and injured well over 500 others.
Paddock then took his own life inside a hotel room that authorities later discovered was holding 23 weapons.
In the 24 hours or so since, there have been many thoughts and prayers offered online, along with pleas for new gun control legislation.
President Donald Trump has also spoken on the massacre, saying it was an act of “pure evil.”
He is expected to visit Las Vegas on Wednesday.
