Marjorie Taylor Greene has admitted to spreading a photoshopped photo as she doubled down on a series of baseless claims about the mass shooting during a July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
The Georgia Rep., a first-term congresswoman known for promoting outlandish conspiracy theories, began her bizarre claims hours after Monday’s shooting when she suggested the rampage of alleged shooter Robert Crimo could be blamed on illicit drug abuse or side effects of – used antidepressants.
Despite the lack of publicly available evidence that Mr Crimo was a drug user of any kind, Ms Greene took to Twitter late Monday to say that anyone who disagreed with her claims was part of a cover-up on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry.
“When are we going to have an honest conversation about addiction, mental illness and SSRIs…and the deadly side effects. Are we really going to keep pretending? Or covering Big Pharma? ‘Cause I’m absolutely done with the political games about it [bulls***],” she wrote. SSRIs — selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — are drugs that are often used as antidepressants.
Fellow Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois weighed in shortly after Ms Greene’s tweet, calling it “heartless”.
“Instead of having an ounce of compassion, it’s cold madness,” he wrote. “I’m so done with this evil move.”
In a subsequent Twitter thread, Ms Greene continued her rant with a clearly photoshopped image of Mr Crimo.
“The guy made rap videos about school shootings or being killed in a hail of bullets by the police and was ‘known to the police’. The public deserves to know why! Release his records, school record, arrest, drugs and prescription drugs, hospitalizations, psychiatric,” she wrote.
“The public should not allow this to continue. People are not stupid. Is he in prison or in rehab or in a psychiatric center in this photo? It’s not his room. 22 years old and 5’11 and 120 pounds is neither normal nor healthy. What drugs or psychiatric drugs or both does he use? »
Shortly after, Ms Greene acknowledged the gross lack of authenticity in the image she shared – but argued it backed up her earlier comments.
“Supposedly it’s photoshopped,” she wrote. “No more reasons to release his records. What’s wrong with him?”
Police arrested Mr Crimo on Monday night following a brief car chase after being linked to the shooting, which claimed the lives of seven people and injured more than three dozen, by a DNA sample found on the high-powered rifle discovered at the scene of the shooting.
The following day, he was charged with seven counts of first degree murder.
According to NBC News, Mr. Crimo’s presence on the internet indicates a long-standing interest in internet subcultures fascinated by mass shootings and death. There is no evidence that he was a habitual user of illicit drugs, nor that he was treated with antidepressants.
Nancy Rotering, the mayor of Highland Park, told NBC Today she knew the alleged killer as a child as part of a Cub Scout group she once led.
“I know him as someone who was a Cub Scout when I was the Cub Scout leader,” Ms Rotering said. “And it’s one of those things where you step back and say, ‘What happened? How did someone get so angry, so hateful and then go after innocent people who were literally having a family day out? »
The Independent Gt