Tucson council member criticized for social media post after Kirk killing

Contentious comments a Tucson Council member made last week on social media soon after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has prompted a significant amount of criticism, including from a state lawmaker who has called on Lane Santa Cruz to resign.

Santa Cruz, who also serves as Tucson’s vice mayor, posted on her Instagram account after Wednesday’s shooting death of Kirk at Utah Valley University: “Krama (sic), if you know you know. diosito te maldiga.” That loosely translates to “God damn you.”

A subsequent post made by Santa Cruz over the weekend shared a quote by a Substack article titled “Charlie Kirk and the Value of Empathy” by John Pavlovitz, a former youth pastor.

After the initial posts, which are no longer available on her account as they were Instagram stories, Santa Cruz released an online statement Friday afternoon through official social media channels saying her previous comments were “taken out of context and circulated on right-wing platforms to suggest I was in favor of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.”

“As someone who grew up in the Evangelical movement of the 90s, seeing people close to me invoke Christ in response to this tragedy triggers a reaction. The post was a personal reference intended for those who know my upbringing,” she said. “As an elected official, I take my responsibility seriously to represent Tucson and our residents with integrity, compassion, and accountability. I unequivocally denounce political violence, gun violence and all forms of violence. Every incident of gun violence is a tragedy.”

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Later in the afternoon, Tucson Republican Rep. Rachel Keshel called for Santa Cruz to resign.

“When public officials celebrate political violence, they legitimize it, embolden it, and invite more of it,” Keshel said.

On Monday, several police officers and media were at City Hall after a group claiming to be an armed militia said in an online post that it planned to hold a protest there. No one showed up.