Berry (left) and Gov. Katie Hobbs | LinkedIn and Arizona Governor's Office
Berry (left) and Gov. Katie Hobbs | LinkedIn and Arizona Governor's Office
Arizona Republican legislators are calling on Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs' (D-AZ) press secretary, Josselyn Berry, to resign following Berry’s tweet of a GIF of a gun-wielding woman with the text, “Us when we see transphobes.”
“The press secretary for the governor, Josselyn Berry, sent a public message to shoot ‘trans phones’ hours after 3 children and 3 adults were brutally murdered in a school shooting,” tweeted Sen. Anthony Kern (R-AZ). “This is reprehensible and massively disturbing. Josselyn Berry must resign IMMEDIATELY!”
“If you work in the progressive community and are transphobic, you’re not progressive. Period. End of story,” tweeted Berry. “It’s not hard to understand but you’re (sic) bigotry masquerading as feminism absolutely is.”
Elyse Guidas, executive director of Activate Food Arizona, responded to Berry’s initial statement by tweeting, “Not sure these transphobic-from-the-left posers know who they’re messing with.”
That’s when Berry responded with her tweet with the GIF of the gun-wielding woman.
“Less than 12 hours after the tragic shooting in Nashville by a deranged transgender activist @katiehobbs’ Press Secretary calls for shooting people Democrats disagree with,” tweeted the Arizona Freedom Caucus. “ Calling for violence like this is un-American & never acceptable. @joss_berry should be fired immediately.”
Berry’s tweet came a day after three students and three adults were killed at a shooting at a private Christian grade school in Nashville, TN. The shooter, who was killed by police “was identified as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a Nashville resident, who identified as a transgender woman,” reported Fox News.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Berry was the communications director for the Arizona Senate Democratic Caucus when the organization retracted a press statement that featured a quote from Assata Shakur. Shakur, whose real name is Joanne Deborah Chesimard, was convicted in 1977 of murdering a New Jersey State Trooper, escaped from prison, and is currently at-large and a member of the FBI’s Most Wanted List.