Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs' spokesperson resigned amid controversy over a social media post invoking gun violence posted hours after the deadly shooting at a Nashville school on Monday. Press Secretary Josselyn Berry quit at Hobbs' request. "The governor does not condone violence in any form," said a statement from Hobbs' office. "This administration holds mutual respect at the forefront of how we engage with one another. The post by the press secretary is not reflective of the values of the administration." Berry's tweet Monday caused uproar online, particularly among conservatives who dubbed it tone-deaf, offensive, and contrary to criticism from progressives that Republicans do too little about gun violence, reports the Arizona Republic.
The controversial tweet included a clip from the 1980 movie "Gloria," featuring actress Gena Rowlands with a handgun in each hand pacing forward a few steps. "Us when we see transphobes," Berry wrote, sharing the image. Berry posted earlier Monday about transgender rights and progressive politics, saying if you "work in the progressive community and are transphobic, you’re not progressive." By Wednesday, Berry had restricted her account from public view, and the controversial tweet was removed. She posted hours after a mass killing at a Nashville school where the shooter was identified by law enforcement authorities as a transgender person. Six people, three of them 9-year-old students, were killed. The shooting, and the spokesperson's social media post, echoed around the state Capitol, where lawmakers' partisan divisions are often on display over issues of LGBTQ rights and gun violence.