The organizers of Michael Bloomberg’s gun control group has issued an apology for naming Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev as a victim of gun violence during a demonstration in Concord, N.H., on Tuesday.
Members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns read the names of those killed with guns since the Sandy Hook massacre outside their “No More Names” bus in front of the New Hampshire state Capitol, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
“He’s a terrorist!” several counter-protesters shouted when Tsarnaev’s name was read.
The Mayors Against Illegal Guns campaign said this afternoon that rally organizers relied on a list compiled by Slate.com, and Tsarnaev’s name “was on the list.”
“ was absolutely not a victim, his name should have been deleted before the list was provided to a family member for reading and his name should never have been read. It was a mistake, it should not have happened and we sincerely apologize,” the group added.
Tsarnaev was killed April 19 during a gunfight with police in Watertown, Mass., while trying to evade capture following the April 15 bombing, the Union Leader reported.
“Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a murderous terrorist and a cold-blooded killer,” New Hampshire’s GOP Chairman Jennifer Horn said in a statement. “It is outrageous that Mayor Bloomberg’s gun control group is so radical and out of touch with New Hampshire values that it believes this monster should be labeled as some kind of victim.”
New York State Assemblyman Kieran Lalor also released a statement, saying the group named other criminals, as well as suicides.
“Bloomberg’s apology is disingenuous at best,” he said. “He has been misleading the American people to score political points. A quick look at the list would have revealed there were many criminals on it. It includes a man shot by police while threatening to kill a two-year-old girl he had snatched from her mother in a parking lot. This is a group that doesn’t distinguish between a gun being used to save a kidnapped child and the victim of a crime. They’re just concerned about making a political statement.”
A man was arrested at the rally as gun control supporters and gun rights advocates clashed outside the Capitol.
Daniel Musso, 52, reportedly placed his hand on an officer after being ordered to move. He was tasered and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and two counts of simple assault, police said.
