Rep. Gosar Staffer Quits After Violent Twitter Posts
A staffer in the Flagstaff office of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) who used his Twitter account to trumpet the downfall of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) resigned Friday after Roll Call discovered violent messages he tweeted.
Roll Call learned on Friday that Blake Schritter, a caseworker and office manager in one of Gosar’s district offices, had posted messages about drunken exploits and his desire to gun down professors and postal workers, all the while working in the district that borders that of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was the victim of an assassination attempt in January.
“I can’t believe how unprofessional liberal professors can be. I’m sitting here, cleaning my gun, thinking…this is a classroom!!!” Schritter, a graduate student in Northern Arizona University’s criminology program who also graduated from the school’s criminal justice program, posted on June 23.
On June 2 he tweeted: “The line at the post office is moving at a glacial pace. I’m ready to open fire with a handgun to get some damn service!”
Schritter, who answered the phone at Gosar’s Flagstaff office on Friday, first denied ownership of the account.
His Twitter account, posted under the moniker “drunkenbs,” disappeared after Roll Call contacted Gosar’s office for a response.
A Gosar spokesperson confirmed on Friday that Schritter was no longer working for the Congressman.
“Today we accepted the resignation of a staff member that made a mistake,” Gosar Deputy Chief of Staff Tom Van Flein said on Friday.
Schritter did not respond to further requests for comment.
Schritter, a native of Kingman, Ariz., frequently used his Twitter account to rant about liberals and brag about drinking.
“Holy hangover Batman! I’d sell one of my nephews for two advil right now,” he posted on June 4.
“I’ve been visiting my parents for 10 minutes and I’m already white knuckling it to the whisky cabinet!” Schritter updated on June 5.
Schritter began working in Gosar’s office in March and opened his Twitter account on May 31. He was clearly aware of the potentially lethal combination politics and social media can be from the beginning.
“Time to prep for the defamation of character lawsuits!” Schritter exclaimed when he opened his account.
“The Rep. Weiner Twitter scandal is all over the news. Note to self: when in politics, never shag and shout,” he wrote the next day.