The GOP official who called for students to be shot says he ‘understands why people are angry’

Republican official Dan Adamini did not have a good day after he tweeted: “Violent protesters who shut down free speech? Time for another Kent State perhaps. One bullet stops a lot of thuggery.”

Angry that protests had shut down a Milo Yiannopoulos event at UC Berkeley, Dan did not make it better when he later posted on Facebook: “I’m thinking that another Kent State might be the only solution…They do it because they know there are no consequences yet.”

Appearing to advocate murder, like when four Kent State students were shot by the National Guard in 1970, is never going to win you a lot of friends. So now Dan, a GOP leader in Marquette County, Michigan has apologized unreservedly for his cack-handed comments, and says: “It was stupid, it was poorly said.”

We spoke to Dan to clarify what he meant.

Tell us about what you said.

It was very poorly done. I should never have actually tweeted it, I should never have Facebooked such a public subject. The point I was trying to make, very poorly, was that peaceful protests are what we need. The violent protests are creating a problem. If the protesters can’t stop the violence, we might see another horrible tragedy like we saw at Kent State.

Can you see why people got the impression you were calling for students to die?

I regret the way that sounded. Now I look at them, you’re right, that’s the impression I gave. If I had properly given the background for my line of thought, it still wouldn’t have been appropriate. The point I was trying to make really could not be made in a short statement. I never should have tried. I was certainly not calling for violence against peaceful protesters. I was trying to call for an end to violence by protesters.

The fact that my statements made people think I was actually calling for violence against people is nobody’s fault but my own. I shouldn’t have even tried it in the first place. It was a stupid, horrible thing to say because it completely went against what I was trying to say.

So what were you trying to say?

Protesters are the only ones who have the power to stop the violence. If they can’t stop it on their own, my fear is the authorities will step in and that never ends well. I’d like to see the violence stopped before we have a tragedy.

Have you got a lot of hate messages?

Yes, I have. As sad as I am at receiving those, I’m sadder still that it’s basically from my own doing. If people actually believe that I meant to cause violence against peaceful protesters, I can’t be upset with them for their statements and their feelings. That’s why I’m trying to correct what I was trying to say so they understand that is not what I was trying to convey.

Afraid say to them?

You can make the argument that the speaker should never have been invited in the first place. But if the college is going to invite a speaker there, I think they have an obligation to try to keep the piece. I do believe the majority of the people were there peacefully. I do believe some people committing the violence weren’t even part of the protest but may have been agitators who infiltrated to try to create a problem. It’s not the fault of the students.

Anything else?

It’s very distressing. I understand people are angry. It was stupid, it was poorly said. The fact that I created the opposite impression of what I was trying to say is a great indication of how stupid it was.