Zionsville mayor defends profane Facebook comment following Texas school shooting
By Demie Johnson
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ZIONSVILLE, Indiana (WISH) — Did Zionsville’s mayor go too far in sharing her frustration following the mass shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas? She doesn’t think so.
“I woke up that morning after the Uvalde shooting, just enraged, honestly, just pissed off,” Zionsville Mayor, Emily Styron, said.
Styron said her anger only grew more angry when she began to read what people were saying about the mass shooting. She said she was specifically set off by some social media comments against calls for more gun control.
In a Facebook post, a Zionsville business encourages people to “support candidates who support change.”
A man named Joel Bardach responded saying it’s a “mental illness problem.” ‘Can’t get rid of the guns. Criminals don’t care.’
Bardach then goes on to share other opinions about the situation.
Styron replied to his comment using several profanities.
“(EXPLETIVE) you. I am so sick and tired of the stupid, useless rhetoric by jack (EXPLETIVE) like you when it comes to gun regulation. (EXPLETIVE) sick and tired of mass murders if OUR (EXPLETIVE CHILDREN…it’s time for the majority who know that gun permits and banning automatic weapons is COMMON (EXPLETIVE) SENSE. So yeah, (EXPLETIVE),” Styron said.
In an interview with News 8, Styron defended her comments.
“Nope, we can’t do that, it’s not within our, trying to mansplain how there’s no way we can ever make this happen. I’m tired of listening to folks like that. if you don’t believe that we can get sensible gun legislation enacted, then move over because we are gonna elect someone who can,” Styron said.
The argument between the two continues, and Styron makes it clear she’s the mayor of the town.
“Not exactly the way she said it. She said she was the mayor of this effing town,” Bardach said.
Bardach said he’s not mad at Styron for what she said. But he said he doesn’t believe the way she responded is an affective way to get things done.
“It rolls off my back to a point where I don’t live there, I don’t vote there. It’s not my town. But, as a human being, it’s highly offensive and should be to anybody and it certainly speaks to the fact that we understand now why things don’t get done. No more desire to work with the other side than anything. It’s sad,” Bardach said.
Mayor Styron said she feels the opposite and hopes her strong choice of words catches more people’s attention.
“I am hopeful that maybe because I used that sort of language, this conversation gets a bigger audience,” Styron said.
Styron said she does not want her comments to reflect the town of Zionsville or the people who live there.
She said they were comments made using her personal Facebook account, not her Mayor Emily Styron page.
Joel Bardach said he does not expect an apology, but he does think it’s the right thing for Mayor Styron to do.
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