Las Vegas shooting: CBS fires executive who said victims were 'Republican gun toters' who did not deserve sympathy

Hayley Geftman-Gold's comments on Facebook criticised country music fans massacred at Jason Aldean show for presumed right-wing political affiliations and NRA endorsement

(David Becker/Getty)

CBS fired a company executive on Monday after she criticised some victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting as “Republican gun toters” who did not deserve sympathy.

Hayley Geftman-Gold, who was a vice president and senior legal counsel at CBS in New York, also wrote on Facebook that she had no hope that Republicans - whom she called “Repugs” - would ever take action and “do the right thing” if they didn't do anything when children were murdered, an apparent reference to the Sandy Hook shootings that left 28 people dead, including 20 children killed inside their elementary school.

Geftman-Gold made her Facebook comments in the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, with at least 59 people killed and more than 500 injured. The shooting attack occurred at the end of a three-day country music festival held over the weekend on the Las Vegas Strip. The event drew a diverse crowd of thousands of music fans out, and police said the audience was more than 22,000-strong when gunshots rang out at about 10pm on Sunday.

CBS confirmed to The Washington Post on Monday that Geftman-Gold was dismissed for her “deeply unacceptable” comments on social media.

“This individual, who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS,” the company said in a statement.

“Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS. Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families.”

Her posts have since been deleted.

The Daily Caller, a right-leaning outlet, first reported on Geftman-Gold's post Monday morning.

Geftman-Gold, who had been with CBS for a year, said that she “sincerely regrets” her “indefensible” and “shameful” post, and is “deeply sorry for diminishing the significance of every life affected” by the gunman's terrorism, according to Fox News.

A petition addressed to the New York State Bar Association has been posted online condemning Geftman-Gold's “professional misconduct,” and had more than 1,000 signatures as of early Monday evening.

The Washington Post