Leftist white male running for US Congress tweets KKK hood to Candace Owens, gets slapped right back as a 'racist'

A left-wing white male running for U.S. Congress responded Tuesday to a Twitter post from conservative commentator Candace Owens by tweeting an image of a Ku Klux Klan hood at her:

What are the details?

In her Monday tweet, Owens — a black woman — wrote, "The #1 violent offenders against black people are other black people. The #1 violent offenders against Asian Americans are also black people. But both #BlackLivesMatter and #AsianLivesMatter are campaigns dedicated to stomping out white supremacy because, clown world."

In response, Liam O'Mara — a history professor who's also a Democratic candidate for California's 42nd Congressional District — replied to Owens with an image of a KKK hood along with text reading, "Yikes. You may've dropped this."

Brutal backlash

Soon O'Mara — who subsequently claimed Owens "is recycling explicitly white supremacist arguments" — was feeling the heat from Twitter users, including Owens herself.

When one commenter wrote of O'Mara, "Pretty sure this a hate crime in California," Owens offered the following observation:

"Pretty sure a white man dropping a klansmen hood off to target a black woman is a hate crime everywhere," she noted. "I wonder if I could file a police report against him in CA?"

Another user answered Owens: "I sure as hell would..it is definitely a hate crime..GOD..what the hell is going on?"

Others expressed similar sentiments:

• "You seriously just tweeted this to a black woman?" one commenter asked. "You need help."
• "Racist Democrats back at it again with racist tweets," another commenter noted. "Who would've guessed that Liam the Racist Democrat hates black people."
• "Being from the south, this is one of the most insulting things you could ever do to a person of color," another user said. "We approach things like this with far more sensitivity due to our past, but let me tell you, that is racist and has no place in this country. In no way is that amusing."
• "Can only imagine what the response would be if a Republican Congressional representative sent a picture of a Klan hoodie to an African-American commentator," another user observed. "I'm glad that we're consistent on our outrage."
• "The fact you went out and searched for this, and it is STILL up after how long? should show people that you have 0 REMORSE for your actions, that you are refusing any kind of accountability. You say 'it's inappropriate,' but here we are, and it's still up," another commenter said Tuesday afternoon.
• "This is beyond racist. Reported. But legal investigation must be started," another user declared.

What else did the congressional candidate have to say?

O'Mara in one of his subsequent tweets wrote that "I study extremist rhetoric for a living, and this stuff is really dangerous." But another commenter wasn't buying his assessment.

"What is dangerous is a white guy trying to intimidate a black woman because he disagrees with her," the commenter shot back. "Reminds me of the 1920s when the KKK-affiliated groups were erecting statues of confederates to keep the black people 'in their place.' ...As a history guy, you should know that."

But O'Mara insisted that he's "not trying to intimidate anyone. I was trying to call attention to efforts to do that, so quite the opposite. It hurts that we still have this kind of violent racist rhetoric in America."

The commenter wasn't convinced, however: "You tweeted a white hood at a black woman because you disagree with her. That's not the opposite of calling attention to a**holes who intimidate and try to silence black people. It hurts that you are stupid enough to keep defending your stupid actions. You need to apologize."

With that, O'Mara said "I have, and will continue to apologize, sure. It was easily misunderstood and offensive, and I apologize to anyone offended by the image and tweet."