Woman under fire for telling Highland Park shooting survivor to ‘go vote’

‘Please register to vote if you haven’t already. Tell your friends too. Your generation is our last hope,’ tweeted Ann Brenoff

An ex-HuffPost editor has come under fire after sending a tweet that told a survivor from the 4th July Highland Park shooting to “go vote” after the victim shared a bloodied picture of her wounds online.

“I cant f***ing believe I was in the middle of a mass shooting,” wrote a woman, known only as Lilli, on Twitter on Monday following the brazen Independence Day shooting in Illinois’s Highland Park that left seven dead and dozens more sustaining injuries. “I’ve felt safe at this parade for 18 years and today I got hit with a bullet and nothing will change in America, this is ridiculous,” she added, garnering thousands of likes, comments and retweets.

One of the commenters on the since viral tweet was former HuffPost writer and editor Ann Brenoff, who after first offering her condolences to the young woman pitched that surviving such an experience should inspire her to get out and “register to vote”.

“I am sorry this happened to you and to everyone else there. It’s awful and these shootings just keep coming at us,” tweeted Ms Brenoff in a reply to the Highland Park survivor.

“Please register to vote if you haven’t already. Tell your friends too. Your generation is our last hope.”

Commenters online were swift to call out Ms Brenoff for offering up platitudes to a woman who had only hours before had a bullet from the AR-15 style rifle used by the suspected shooter graze her cheek.

“Imagine getting shot in the face and then being told that an adult says that you, a new adult, and your generation are the last hope,” tweeted @LastSnowLeopard in response to The Intercept reporter Ken Klippenstein’s tweet that shared a meme of Keanu Reeves with a dumbstruck expression alongside the caption: “You’re saying I can vote”?

While Ms Brenoff did apologise for the horror that the Highland Park survivor had to endure on Monday, most jumped on the former editor’s remarks as being insensitive for seeming to suggest that people in the US can avoid a mass shooting by engaging with the Democratic process of casting a ballot.

“Hey bud! Yeah I’ve been shot. Forget that though, check THIS out: Pokémon Go To The Polls,” tweeted Twitter user @Ettin64 in response to Ms Brenoff’s message.

Another Twitter user took Ms Brenoff’s tweet to repurpose a cartoon from graphic artist Garbrielle Drolet, who had shared one of her creations last week in response to the overturning of Roe v Wade. The image shows a woman on fire while a man with his hands to his side asks: “have you tried voting?”

Authorities say that at least 38 people were injured in the mass shooting on 4 July. The death toll from the massacre rose to seven people on Wednesday after a victim who had been treated in hospital succumbed to their injuries.

The suspected shooter is expected in court on Wednesday for his first court appearance. On Tuesday, authorities announced that the 21-year-old had been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. If convicted, he will face life in prison without the possibility of parole, said Illinois state attorney Eric Reinhart.