If there is one thing that gets under my skin, it is hypocrites. Republicans are some of the biggest hypocrites I have ever seen, and they proved that with their encounter with Shelby Shoup last week.
Shoup is a Jewish student at Florida State University and she was arrested and charged with battery for throwing chocolate milk on a volunteer at a Republican party table on FSU's campus. Frankly, it is ridiculous that she was charged with battery because the video of her arguing with the Republicans shows that Shoup threw hardly any milk on the volunteer.
The most common label that Conservatives try to place on Liberals is that we are fragile, yet the Republicans were the ones that called the police on Shoup for throwing some milk on them. I am positive that the milk did not do damage to anything except their egos, yet they decided to involve the police because there was no way they could let Shoup have the last word. She was making them look bad by saying that they were supporting Nazis and enabling fascism, but since they had a bit of milk poured on them, they instantly decided to victimize themselves.
Of course, Shoup could have handled the situation differently, but I honestly cannot blame her for her anger. I understand Shoup's frustration with the Republicans because they saw nothing wrong with supporting a party that incites hatred. When she told them, "Nazis are f****** shooting my people," one of the Republicans angrily responded with, "You're throwing milk at people." It is laughable that the person who said that thought that getting milk thrown at them was even remotely similar to being gunned down at your place of worship.
The video of Shoup yelling at the Republicans and throwing the milk has gone viral, especially among right-wing media outlets like Fox News, and they have been saying that Shoup committed an act of violence. It is interesting that Republicans see chocolate milk as a weapon but treat assault rifles like they are harmless toys. Even though we have now had 307 mass shootings this year, it is clear that our attention should not be on gun control. Innocent people being shot and killed at concerts, places of worship, bars, and schools is negligible. However, having a few drops of chocolate milk thrown on you? Now that is the last straw.
We cannot expect people to stay level-headed when their own people are being put in danger every single day by a political party with no regard for human life. The anger that the Republicans felt from getting chocolate milk thrown at them will never come close to the anger and pain that Shoup must have felt as a Jew when she saw that eleven Jews were killed at the Tree of Life synagogue.
Ever since the video of Shoup has gone viral, she has been receiving constant rape and death threats. It has gotten to the point where she now fears for her life and the safety of her family. A GoFundMe account was made to support her because she needs funds for transportation and new housing in order to make sure that she stays safe.
If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe, you can access it here.