New Zealand mosque shooting: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed for her tweet asking 'What good are your thoughts & prayers?'

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez found herself at the receiving end of an internet backlash after her comments on the New Zealand mosque shootings on Friday. The Congresswoman, in a post on Twitter, shared a video statement by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and wrote, "At 1st I thought of saying, 'Imagine being told your house of faith isn’t safe anymore.' But I couldn’t say 'imagine'," said AOC proceeding to take a jab at the National Rifles Association, "Because of Charleston. Pittsburgh. Sutherland Springs. What good are your thoughts & prayers when they don’t even keep the pews safe?" she wrote. 

The tweet infuriated many and they felt that it was rude and insensitive on the part of AOC, who is known to be a progressive political figure. Comedian Tim Young said, "If one of your first 1000 thoughts after a horrific mass shooting is to go dunk on a person, a religious belief or an organization on Twitter, you should delete your account" while Chet Cannon said, "These poor, innocent people were murdered by a despicable terrorist in their house of prayer, and you choose to denigrate prayer in the aftermath? What is wrong with you?"

Twitter users went on to call the statement "disgusting" and tagged her as "a political opportunist". One user tweeted, "Dozens of innocent people were killed in cold blood, and your first thought was to politicize it for personal gain. You should be ashamed of yourself."

She later clarified what she meant by her earlier post. "('Thoughts and prayers' is a reference to the NRA’s phrase used to deflect the conversation away from policy change during tragedies. Not directed to PM Ardern, who I greatly admire.)" she said before adding, "This is a time of great vulnerability for our communities. We must come together, fight for each other, & stand up for neighbors. Isolation, dehumanizing stereotypes, hysterical conspiracy theories, & hatred ultimately lead to the anarchy of violence. We cannot stand for it."

The Prime Minister for New Zealand Jacinda Ardern openly condemned white supremacist ideology after New Zealand experienced its worst-ever terror attack which took the lives of 49 innocent people and injured up to 20.

While speaking in a conference on Friday afternoon, Ardern said, "It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack." She explained how New Zealand had been targeted as it "represents the values of diversity, kindness, compassion."

"Christchurch was the home of these victims. For many, this may not have been the place they were born. In fact, for many, New Zealand was their choice. The place they actively came to and committed themselves to. The place they were raising their families, with communities who loved them and who they loved. The place where they came for safety. Where they were free to practice their culture and their religion," she added. Ardern also went on to address and issue "the strongest possible condemnation of the ideology of the people who did this." She further said, "You may have chosen us, but we utterly reject and condemn you."