A Democratic state senator from New York is under fire Tuesday for showing a “poor choice of words” when he outright told a fellow Twitter user to kill herself.
State Sen. Kevin Parker, who represents New York’s 21st District, immediately apologized for his tweet in response to a Twitter user who accused him of misusing his government placard on a New York City street.
Candice Giove, the deputy communications director for the New York State Senate’s Republican majority, had posted a photo on Twitter of a car she said displayed the senator’s placard illegally parked in a bike lane, but pointed out that the placard and the car’s license plate don’t match.
“So either he used it in another car or gave it to someone else to use, both of which are not permitted,” Giove tweeted.
To which the New York state lawmaker promptly replied, “Kill yourself!”
After immediate backlash, Parker issued an apology saying he used a “poor choice of words” and shouldn’t have “made light” of suicide.
But backing down from his tweet didn’t keep Parker from later coming out against Giove on Twitter -- again, accusing her of being on the “wrong side of history” politically.
Parker’s initial offensive tweet, which has since been deleted, was immediately met with numerous calls for him to resign.
It's not the first time Parker has lost his cool. He was arrested in 2005, forced into anger management courses and lost his senate leadership positions after he punched a traffic cop. He was also charged and convicted of criminal mischief in 2010 after he hit a Post cameraman outside his house.