BURNSVILLE, MINNESOTA – A Democratic candidate for the Minnesota House defended the murderous, terrorist group known as ISIS and then realized he made perhaps the dumbest mistake of his life, leading to him quitting his campaign.
Dan Kimmel of Burnsville, Minnesota wrote on his Twitter account Saturday that “ISIS isn’t necessarily evil. It is made up of people doing what they think is best for their community. Violence is not the answer, though.”
As a an avalanche of backlash surged, Kimmel on Sunday tried to talk his way around his tweet and quit his campaign. The following is his response.
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Evil
My tweet last evening was in response to a statement made during the candidate debates, not in response to the activities in Paris. It was poorly worded and did not convey my intent.
I do think the attacks in Paris yesterday, along with other ISIS terrorist actions, are cowardly and despicable. My heart breaks for the people of France, of Paris, the families of those wounded or killed and the casualties themselves. My thoughts are with them. I condemn the attacks, as I condemn all violence.
I am folding up my campaign tent. The campaign website and Facebook page will be down by this afternoon.
I apologize to the volunteers and contributors who have put so much time, effort and money into my campaign.
I am very sorry for “spreading ick” on other candidates and the DFL party. I will do everything I can to help resolve the issue: most likely the best thing for me to do is shut up. The tweet was stupid. I’m sorry.
