On Easter Sunday, tragedy struck the South Asian country of Sri Lanka. As hundreds of innocent people headed to churches near the Sri Lanka capital this morning, a group of terrorists blasted the nation with bombs. There were eight bomb blasts in total, affecting nearby churches and hotels. Two hundred people were killed and many more injured.
Miriam Elder, an editor for Buzzfeed News , had something to say about the horrendous event, as well as President Trump’s reaction to it. In a controversial tweet, she suggested that Trump would likely care more about the Sri Lankan victims if they were white, according to Fox News .
Elder’s tweet, which received hundreds of scathing comments, included a link to a BuzzFeed News article about the bombings.
“Suspect we’d be hearing a lot more outrage from Trump and co. if the Christians killed in Sri Lanka were white,” she wrote.
Harry Khachatrian, a contributor for the Daily Wire , was one of they many who spoke out against Elder’s sentiments.
“How can I take this tragic terrorist attack in a completely different part of the world make it about Trump,” he wrote, receiving a plethora of favorites.
However, Khachatrian’s response to Elder’s original tweet was one of the more mild ones.
One user called it “the worst tweet of the day,” while others called on Elder to delete her account after offending so many people.
This photo taken at St. Sebastian’s Church, one of several holy sites attacked in Sri Lanka on Sunday, captures the horror many experienced this weekend https://t.co/I21hWBERiP pic.twitter.com/K8wz4gfPUo
— CNN (@CNN) April 21, 2019
On Sunday, President Trump tweeted out his condolences to those affected by the attacks upon Sri Lanka and stated that the United States stands ready to offer assistance.
“138 people have been killed in Sri Lanka, with more that 600 badly injured, in a terrorist attack on churches and hotels. The United States offers heartfelt condolences to the great people of Sri Lanka. We stand ready to help!”
Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardena issued a public statement in which he explained that the bombings were a terrorist attack by a religious extremist group. While no particular religious group has publicly taken responsibility for the attack thus far, 13 suspects have been taken into custody for their alleged involvement. The blasts that shook the area were suicide bombings, according to Fox News .
Bhanuka Harischandra is a 24-year-old founder of a tech marketing company. He went to the Shangri-La Hotel for a meeting when it was bombed, and described the terrifying incident.
“People were being dragged out. People didn’t know what was going on. It was panic mode. There was blood everywhere.”
