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On March 24, David Hogg, a survivor of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, and a founder of the #NeverAgain movement, gave a stirring speech at the March For Our Lives in Washington D.C., a student-organized rally that drew over 200,000 attendees in the capital alone. The rally, as well as Hogg's speech, called for stricter gun control in the United States. Since they began advocating for gun control, many conservative pundits have taken to Twitter to denounce the shooting survivors in a plethora of ways intended to discredit and belittle them. One such conservative is actor Frank Stallone, brother of Sylvester Stallone.
*Warning: Stallone's tweet includes explicit language*
On March 31st, Stallone tweeted this insult, which has since been deleted:
Just FYI here is the tweet that @Stallone deleted. #FarFromOver https://t.co/9f9Hu2KsFa— Daniel W. Drezner (@Daniel W. Drezner) 1522518560.0
The next morning, Stallone deleted the tweet and wrote an apology:
To everyone and to David Hogg especially. I want to deeply apologize for my irresponsible words. I would never in a million years wish or promote violence to anyone anywhere on this planet. After what these kids went though I’m deeply ashamed. Please accept my apology. Frank
— Frank Stallone (@Stallone) April 1, 2018
Stallone isn't the first to think twice after mocking a shooting victim.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham wrote this tweet, meant to belittle a shooting victim, on March 28.
David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA...totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 28, 2018
After advertisers began withdrawing from her program, Ingraham apologized on Twitter:
Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA —incl. @DavidHogg111. On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David...(1/2)
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 29, 2018
... immediately after that horrific shooting and even noted how "poised" he was given the tragedy. As always, he’s welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion. WATCH: https://t.co/5wcd00wWpd (2/2)
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 29, 2018
The next day, she announced she would be taking a surprise, week-long Easter vacation from her show.
It didn't seem like Twitter accepted Stallone's apology...
When did we become a nation of people who treat victims of a mass shooting with more cruelty and harshness than we show to the actual murderer? What makes us think it's all right to be vicious to kids? What does that say about us as human beings?
— Karen Ottway (@OttwayKaren) April 2, 2018
Kind of tough to say you would never promote violence just after promoting violence. Perhaps you should have said that you won’t promote violence again.
— Orangeville Chiver (@kriztoper1978) April 1, 2018
@Stallone God Bless you little Sly, and all these old age conservatives who feel the need to attack these kids on E… https://t.co/IHAoEZ809v— KALPHAAPEXC (@KALPHAAPEXC) 1522595703.0
@Stallone Here. And now you can disappear again. https://t.co/nvJvE4cw1t— Korby Siamis (@Korby Siamis) 1522621615.0