Katie Hobbs press secretary resigns after tweet suggesting violence against ‘transphobes’
Jack Birle
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Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) confirmed she accepted the resignation of her press secretary, Josselyn Berry, following a tweet she made on Monday after the school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.
Berry tweeted a photo on Monday from the 1980 film Gloria of the titular character holding up two guns, with the caption “us when we see transphobes.”
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The suspect in the shooting at the Covenant School, which left three children and three adults dead, was a biological woman who identified as a transgender man.
The tweet caused an uproar among many, including the Arizona Freedom Caucus, calling for Berry to be fired for the post.
Hobbs’s office confirmed Wednesday that Berry had resigned and that she had accepted the resignation, adding Hobbs “does not condone violence in any form” and that the post was “not reflective of the values of the administration.”
“The Governor does not condone violence in any form. This administration holds mutual respect at the forefront of how we engage with one another,” the governor’s office said in a statement. “The post by the Press Secretary is not reflective of the values of the administration. The Governor has received and accepted the resignation of the Press Secretary.”
On Tuesday, Hobbs tweeted that she was mourning the loss of the six people killed in the shooting in Tennessee, but she also said the shooting could have been prevented.
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“As flags across our state and our country are lowered for the six victims of school gun violence in Nashville, we mourn their loss, along with all others killed by gun violence,” Hobbs tweeted on Tuesday. “Our schools should be safe places for students and teachers, this could have and should have been prevented.”
Police in Nashville confirmed Tuesday the shooter was receiving treatment from a doctor for an “emotional disorder” and left behind a manifesto relating to the shooting at the Christian school. Officers have not announced a motive for the shooting.