Controversial right-wing commentator Candace Owens has been slammed for using a laughing emoji in a tweet about the New Zealand mosque massacre after being named in the terrorist's manifesto.
The gunman Brenton Tarrant from New South Wales, Australia, named the conservative activist as his biggest influence in his 74-page manifesto.
In the sick document, Tarrant said that Owens helped 'push me further and further into the belief of violence over meekness' - but claimed some of the 'extreme actions' she calls for are 'too much, even for my tastes'.
Shortly after posting the manifesto on Twitter, Tarrant, 28, live streamed the mass shooting inside the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch at around 1.30pm. The terror attack, and another at a nearby mosque, left 49 people dead and another 48 injured.
Owens,whose controversial views include that the Democratic party is racist and oppresses black Americans, was quickly inundated with tweets about the gunman's admiration of her,
But rather than distance herself from his views or even condemn his violence, she tweeted 'LOL!' followed by the emoji.
She went on to argue that she was not responsible for inspiring the attack and fumed that 'racist white liberals' were trying to blame her for it.
'I’ve never created any content espousing my views on the 2nd Amendment or Islam.
'The Left pretending I inspired a mosque massacre in...New Zealand because I believe black America can do it without government hand outs is the reachiest reach of all reaches!! LOL!' she said.
Owens is known for her controversial remarks on both the second amendment and Islam in addition to her view that the Democratic party is racist.
She has come under fire in the past for making questionably complimentary remarks about Hitler.
On Thursday night and Friday, she continued to tweet over the next several hours that she refused to be blamed for the massacre.
When followers pointed out the impropriety of her response, she was indignant and argued back with them but failed to make a single solemn or sympathetic remark about the shooting or its dozens of victims.
'Laughter is not the response one would expect after these murders,' one follower said.
Owens shot back: 'No. But a bunch of racist white liberals flooding my mentions is almost exactly what one would expect. You guys will never de-platform me.'
John Iadarola wrote: 'Maybe a little less laughing considering the death toll?'
Aaron Rupar added: 'This is a disgustingly callous response.'
Another user tweeted: 'Yes. A violent massacre is so funny. Hysterical.'
Others pointed out that she had in fact shared her views on the second amendment and Islam in the past, sharing screenshots of recent tweets.
One of her previous tweets was directed towards Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, in which she claimed 'Europe will fall and become a Muslim majority continent by 2050'.
Another, aimed at French president Emmanuel Macron, again warned against the declining birth rate.
When questioned what she was laughing about in the tweet, Owens replied: 'White liberals attempting to beat black conservatives into submission with absurdity... again.'
Owens is best known for her outspoken, anti-Democratic views.
She believes the Democratic party is racist, and has formed an alliance with Kanye West in their shared support of Donald Trump.
She has in the past described Black Lives Matters protesters as a 'bunch of whiny toddlers' and has said that Hitler would have been 'OK' if he'd contained his plans to Germany and not tried to take over the world.
'I actually don't have any problems with the word nationalism. Globalism is what I don't want.
'Whenever we say nationalism, the first thing people think of at least in America is Hitler.
'He was a national socialist but if Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK fine.
'The problem is he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize, he wanted everybody to be speaking German,' she said.
She was condemned for her comments and later clarified her stance that Hitler's massacring of millions of Jews was not 'OK'.
Tarrant launched the attack at Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch on the country's South Island at about 1.30pm as Friday prayers were underway.
At about the same time, there was a second shooting at a mosque in Linwood, which is within 10km of the first attack.
Early reports indicated a shooting at Christchurch Hospital. However, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the mosques were the lone targets.
She did confirm multiple bombs were attached to two cars belonging to the suspects near the mosque. The explosives were disarmed before they could detonate.
Of the 49 fatalities, 41 were killed at the Al Noor Mosque and seven at the Linwood Avenue mosque. Three were outside the mosque itself. A 49th died in hospital.
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