Wisconsin Democratic Aide Compares Scott Walker to Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer

AP

A top Wisconsin Democratic aide was forced to apologize after comparing Republican Gov. Scott Walker to notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski posted three tweets making the comparison Friday after prosecutors closed a long-running probe into several Walker aides, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. Dahmer, Wisconsin's most infamous murderer, was known for saving and eating his victim's body parts.

In another one, he asked, "What do @GovWalker and Jeffrey Dahmer have in common?" without answering himself.

Zielinski's tweets drew rebuke both from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett -- who twice lost out to Walker for the governor's seat -- and from his boss, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate.

Barrett called Zielinski's words "Way over the top and very inappropriate," while Tate offered his own apology.

"Graeme's tweet is inappropriate, overzealous and insensitive," Tate said in an email to the Journal Sentinel. "He should have chosen a different comparison point in pointing out Gov. Walker has had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to avoid criminal charges. He and I regret his comment."

Image source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Zielinski later posted two apologies to Twitter, one to Walker and one to Dahmer's victims.

My heartfelt apologies to the victims of Jeffrey Dahmer. Their pain is not something with which I should have trifled.

— Graeme Zielinski (@gjzielinski) March 2, 2013

 

And my apologies to @govwalker for my inappropriate Tweeting.

— Graeme Zielinski (@gjzielinski) March 2, 2013