Former presidential candidate Ron Paul is facing some pretty stiff criticism for a tweet he sent out Monday about the Navy SEAL who was murdered at a Texas gun range over the weekend. The Ron Paul SEAL tweet read:
“Chris Kyle’s death seems to confirm that ‘he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.’ Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn’t make sense.”
Many were outraged after the tweet was posted. The expressed their anger with tweets such as,
Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) said “What the Hell, @RonPaul? Are you actually blaming Chris Kyle for his own death?”
Michelle Lancaster (@SkiGarmisch) added, “Very disrespectful commentary to this man, his memory and his family. Shame on you.”
Razor (@hale.razor) wrote, “So all veterans, once done serving our nation with honor, deserve to be murdered as civilians? Wow.”
The retired Navy Seal was known as the most lethal sniper in the recent history of the United States and accounts for more than 150 deaths. Kyle was killed Saturday in a shooting in Texas, authorities said.
Kyle, 38, was shot dead along with another man, identified as Chad Littlefield, 35, on Saturday afternoon in a shooting in Glen Rose, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Police arrested Eddie Routh, 25, shortly after as a suspect in both deaths.
Kyle was part of the elite SEAL unit of the U.S. Navy and fought in Iraq, killing at least 150 insurgents between 1999 and 2009, according to Pentagon officials, though he said they were over 250.
He was awarded for his bravery and after he left the Navy in 2009 he wrote a book, "American Sniper," in which he recounts his days as a sniper.
In the book, which was published last year and was on the list of "The New York Times" best-sellers, Kyle noted that Iraqi insurgents nicknamed him "the devil" and offered a bounty on his head.
Last year, in an interview with "Time" magazine, the ex-sniper defended his work in Iraq and argued that killing insurgents meant saving the lives of many of his peers.
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