Gottheimer embraces BLM’s Rotondi, claims “whiteness is a weapon”
/BLM activist Katie Rotondi tweeted that “just breathing while white” is an act of violence, a crime. Rotondi was the Chair of the Sussex County Democrats – until her emotional instability became such a burden for them that they removed her from office.
Remember when Rotondi tried to smear the Warren County Democrat Chairman?
So now we know what has got into Congressman Josh Gottheimer. Mystery solved. It’s Katie Rotondi.
The two have teamed up to level false accusations against a private citizen. Like Rotondi, this private citizen lives in Sussex County and has long been a target of Rotondi’s ire in her tweets and commentary. She doesn’t much like the fellow and has said so quite publicly. There’s video. So now she’s apparently enlisted the support of their Member of Congress, Josh Gottheimer.
At first, we were confused when the Congressman made a false accusation of criminal behavior (domestic terrorism, no less) against a private citizen. The same private citizen Katie Rotondi has been so worked up about. It seemed a reckless, uncharacteristic thing for Gottheimer to do. After all, to accuse someone of a criminal act – especially a crime of violence like domestic terrorism – is serious.
If true, it raises the question of why hasn’t the Congressman gone to the authorities? We’d like to think that Josh Gottheimer would be a good citizen and report domestic terrorism to the FBI or Homeland Security is he really thought it so. But if it is not true, then it is a window into his soul.
Then there’s Katie Rotondi. We all remember what happened to Tom Palmieri, the Warren County Democrat Chairman.
And then we came across this moment shared by the two of them – Katie Rotondi and Josh Gottheimer – on Twitter. Rotondi tweeting where the private citizen worked (the better to get him fired?), with Gottheimer tweeting his encouragement right below her.
Is anyone here comfortable with a Member of Congress getting in the middle of a personal feud between two constituents? Especially in light of the heightened tensions surrounding the ongoing clashes between Black Lives Matter activists and police. During a BLM related incident over the summer, Sussex County Sheriff Mike Strada and his family were shot at while in their home. During the same period several Sussex County officials were the subjects of harassment, vandalism, and threats. Average citizens had property damaged and homes vandalized for putting up the wrong yard signs. Now is not the time, Josh.
With all the violence happening, is targeting a private citizen and labeling him a criminal – a domestic terrorist – a responsible action for a Member of Congress to take? But Congressman Josh Gottheimer didn’t stop there. He called this private citizen – his constituent – a “racist” and then, in his tweet above, suggested that he “uses violence or hate as a key component” of who he is.
Is Gottheimer trying to get him fired… or killed?
Didn’t 30 police officers just get injured by someone who thought he was given permission to look on them as the enemy? A responsible elected official, should know the temperature of the times, and take care not to provide an excuse for someone less rational than himself.
Directly under Gottheimer’s supportive tweet, Katie Rotondi tweeted:
"Attention White People: BLACK LIVES MATTER is not just a phrase. BLM exists because black people are disproportionately targeted and killed by police. Until the system changes we are complicit in these murders. We must be anti-racist beyond November 3rd."
To make her point, Rotondi added a hashtag with the name of the suspect who she claims was “murdered” by police in Philadelphia. See the lack of restraint?
The police are “murderers”.
A private citizen is a “domestic terrorist”.
It is sad to see a Member of Congress using the same emotional language as someone his own party had to remove. It is sad to behold such a crack-up.
For someone like Katie Rotondi, simply having light-colored skin is an act of violence. That’s what she tweeted. That’s what Congressman Josh Gottheimer gave his thumbs up to.
But in the real world, murder and domestic terrorism are crimes, and you don’t simply accuse people of crimes because you disagree with them. It’s not rational. It's not moral. It’s not ethical. And what will you do when faced with actual crimes?
“Our whiteness is more than a privilege. Our whiteness is a weapon. None of us are doing enough to dismantle the system we created, perpetuate, and benefit from just by breathing while white.”
Katie Rotondi, BLM activist
Josh Gottheimer supporter
Former Chair, Sussex County Democrats
May 26, 2020
