Over the weekend, Georgia State Rep. and Minority Leader Erica Thomas (D) took to Twitter saying a white man called her "a lazy SOB" and that she needed to go back to where she came from because she had too many items in the express lane at the local Publix.
During Thomas' press conference, the man from the supermarket, Eric Sparkes, confronted the legislator for lying about what took place. He said he's a lifelong Democrat but Thomas was doing this for political gain. Recent Facebook posts back up Sparkes claim and show him being critical of President Donald Trump.
It looks as though this isn't Thomas' first public political plunder.
A couple days after the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Thomas took to Twitter to say her her heart went out to shooter Nikolas Cruz. The tweet has since been deleted.
Cruz was responsible for killing 17 and wounding more than a dozen on Valentine's Day 2018. He's currently facing 17 counts of premeditated murder. If convicted, he faces the death penalty or the possibility of life in prison.
Family members and loved ones of those who were killed during the shooting slammed Thomas for her comments.
Ryan Petty, who lost his daughter, Alaina, on that tragic day, reminded Thomas of the lessons she should have learned this week:
Hi @itsericathomas. It’s been quite a week for you. Hopefully you’ve learned a lot this week.
— Ryan Petty (@rpetty) July 23, 2019
Let’s review 3 things we all hope you’ve learned:
1. There are cameras EVERYWHERE.
2. 10 items or less MEANS 10 items or less.
and finally
3. The Internet is forever. https://t.co/k6VTEiPg9q pic.twitter.com/gePBKftptp
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter, Jaime, passed that day, said he plans to be there when Cruz is given the death penalty.
Looks like she deleted her tweet which was put out after the murder. Here it is. WTF @itsericathomas. This murderer killed my daughter and 16 others. My heart goes out to my daughter and the other victims. I plan to be there when he receives his ultimate penalty of death. pic.twitter.com/Q1fdOHRueq
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) July 23, 2019
Hunter Pollack, the brother of Meadow Pollack, and their father, Andrew, also took issue with what Thomas said:
Erica Thomas tweeted after my sister was killed that we should pray for her killer. Nothing about his 17 victims. She is now using her race to justify misbehaving at a grocery store. I feel bad for the man being falsely accused of a hate crime! https://t.co/WmDOx2Wjeq
— Hunter Pollack (@PollackHunter) July 23, 2019
My daughter was the victim.
— Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL) July 23, 2019
Her classmates were the victims.
Her teachers were the victims.
How dare @itsericathomas give the kid who murdered my daughter even a shred of empathy! #FixIt https://t.co/Dn2uerEOu7
Erica, you might want to do all of us, and yourself a favor, and take a step away from social media. Clearly it isn't working out so well for you.
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