Lolo Jones criticized for gun tweet
We know Lolo Jones loves to joke around and keep things loose, which is one of the things that has made her such a popular topic of discussion during and leading up the the Olympics. She runs one of the more entertaining Twitter accounts among the Olympic athletes, but her sense of humor resulted in a bit of criticism on Saturday afternoon.
After the US lost to Italy in archery, Lolo sent out the following tweet:
USA Men’s Archery lost the gold medal to Italy but that’s ok, we are Americans… When’s da Gun shooting competition?
— Lolo Jones (@lolojones) July 28, 2012
In the wake of the devastating movie theater shooting that took place in Colorado, several of Lolo’s followers thought the tweet was in poor taste and inappropriate, prompting the following response from the American hurdler.
@Allaboutbnme @DianeDixon sorry u guys only think of violence but I think of all the hunting I do w southerners in da south. Its impressive.
— Lolo Jones (@lolojones) July 28, 2012
While it’s a safe bet to say that Jones didn’t mean to offend anyone and certainly wasn’t referencing the Aurora shooting, the instant backlash she received is yet another reminder of how important it is that Olympic athletes think three times before writing things on their Twitter accounts — particularly during the Games. She has made some great jokes on Twitter and said some hilarious things during interviews, but there are always people who are going to be anxiously awaiting an opportunity to scrutinize if you say something that could be construed as insensitive.
Photo Credit: Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE
