Bob Brooks, a Democratic congressional candidate in Southeastern Pennsylvania, reportedly deleted a social-media post on the Brown University and Sydney shootings before replacing it with a post solely about Brown less than an hour later, and a separate post on the Bondi Beach attack hours after that, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
The 52-year-old former firefighter wrote at 9:32 a.m. EST on Sunday that both violent attacks were “deeply tragic” and “didn’t have to happen.”
“Sensible gun-safety laws save lives,” he stated in the since-deleted post. “Holding the Brown University community and the Jewish community in Sydney in my thoughts today.”
Brooks subsequently posted a revised version of his previous message at 10:11 a.m., just about the shooting at Brown, with no mention of Sydney or the Jewish community. He made a separate post about the Chanukah attack at 4:41 p.m.
Later in the evening, he wrote, “On a sad day for the Jewish community, I’m wishing everyone celebrating a safe and meaningful Chanukah. I hope you’re able to find some comfort with family and friends this evening.”
Jenna Kaufman, the congressional candidate’s campaign manager, told JNS that “we wanted to condemn antisemitism as a separate issue to highlight its seriousness, rather than make one combined post.” Kaufman did not specify a reason for the time gap between Brooks’s posts.
The Free Beacon article claims that Brooks’s second post about Sydney was issued after the outlet reached out to his campaign for comment, and that his later statement followed the story’s publication.
Brooks, who opened a lawn care business in the Lehigh Valley after retiring from the fire service, is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the seventh congressional district, located slightly northwest of Philadelphia.
He has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, according to the Free Beacon.
