Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault got blasted online after staking a claim California Lunar New Year shooting as an anti-Asian racist attack before any information of the shooter or evidence of the incident was released by police.
Guilbeault proudly posted a now deleted tweet and facebook post, virtue signaling message blaming the horrific attack on “hatred towards Asian people.”
“Sadly, hatred towards Asian people overshadowed the celebrations, and this barbaric act is proof that we must remain vigilant against racism. Hoping that the victims and families will be courageous in this time of grief,” said Guilbeault.
The screen grab of the tweet before it was deleted shows it garnished 14.3k views, 48 likes, 14 retweets and 24 quote tweets.
After details of the shooter were revealed, Guilbeault was immediate hit with backlash calling him out on his inaccurate assumptions. The police announced the shooter was a 72-year-old man named Huu Can Tran, who is Vietnamese.
Guilbeault was once the Minister of Canadian Heritage tasked with drafting thought police legislation to combat so-called misinformation and hate speech.
The attack took place on Sunday morning when Tran shot up a studio in Monterey Park, he also travelled to nearby venue in Alhambra to attack more people. However brave bystanders got in to a physical altercation with him and took the firearm away. Soon after Tran died from self inflicted gunshot wounds.
The shootings left nearly a dozen people dead and another dozen injured.
Guilbeault is one of several senior members of the Liberal government to ramp up emotions from spreading divisive false claims about incidents being racially charged. In 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, made a public statement regarding a Toronto girl who claimed an Asian man had cut her hijab with scissors as she walked to school.
“My heart goes out to Khawlah Noman following this morning’s cowardly attack on her in Toronto,” Trudeau tweeted at the time.
“Canada is an open and welcoming country and incidents like this cannot be tolerated.”
Details form the police investigation revealed the story was a hoax. Justin Trudeau neglected to release a statement to take accountability for his inaccurate and misleading comments.
The inaccurate Tweet drew protesters demanding the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to apologize for demonizing the Asian community.
“(Trudeau’s) behaviour has hurt everyone, not just Asians. By not apologizing, it just stirs up racial tensions and hate between communities,” said protester Bob Peng.
