Texas state Rep. Valoree Swanson Image by Facebook

(JTA) — A Texas state representative opposed to gun control posted a meme on her Facebook page suggesting that gun control led to the deaths of children in the Holocaust.

Valoree Swanson, who describes herself as a Conservative Republican on her personal Facebook page, deleted the image from her Valoree Swanson for Texas Facebook page, and the entire page appeared to have been removed as of Wednesday.

The image, which Swanson shared Monday from the Ted Cruz Meme page on Facebook in support of the Texas Republican senator, juxtaposes the image of 7,000 pairs of shoes left outside the U.S. Capitol earlier this month to represent the children killed by guns since the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School with an image of piles of shoes of Holocaust victims. The captions read “Shoes left by gun control supporters, 2018,” and “Shoes left by gun control supporters, 1945.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Facebook deleted the original image on Tuesday, according to the Dallas News, but screenshots have continued to circulate.

Swanson, who was first sworn into the Texas House to represent the Houston-area District 150 in 2017, is a member of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus in the Texas Legislature. She is up for re-election in November.

She reportedly has not commented on the incident.

“Rep. Swanson’s repost of this meme is abhorrent and is an affront to the memories of the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis,” Marc Stanley of the Jewish Democratic Council of America said in a statement.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount