Florida lawmaker sparks outrage for celebrating Turkish-American activist's killing in West Bank

Randy Fine, the Republican state representative for Florida, is facing a wave of anger and accusations of Islamophobia after celebrating the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old Turkish-American activist who was fatally shot by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank. 

"Throw rocks, get shot. One less #MuslimTerrorist. #FireAway," Fine wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in response to a post announcing Eygi's killing last weekend. 

Eygi, a US citizen, was shot in the head by Israeli forces during a peaceful protest against illegal Israeli settlements near Ramallah. Eyewitnesses said she was unarmed and "standing there doing absolutely nothing with one other woman" when she was shot.

Fine’s comments have sparked widespread condemnation, calling attention to growing concerns about Islamophobia from US officials. 

Many expressed outrage at his apparent endorsement of the killing of an American citizen by a foreign military.

One user condemned it as "a United States lawmaker applauding the cold-blooded execution of an American citizen". 

American elected official responses to an American being killed by our “ally” range from silence to calling the peace protesters a terrorist.

I’ll wait for democrats or anyone to condemn this: https://t.co/LqSHm64hvg

— Nader Hussein (نادر حسين) 🇺🇸🇪🇬🇵🇸🇺🇦 (@NaderHussein10) September 7, 2024

Critics also highlighted what they saw as a double standard in the treatment of public figures. Several people posted about Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who faced backlash and censure for her use of the phrase "from the river to the sea".

One user commented: "White dudes can say anything apparently."

Pls note Rashida Tlaib was punished for saying "From the river to the sea", but this monstrous, homicidal comment is fine. White dudes can say anything apparently. https://t.co/krfUqnEkNd

— Azalea Dunn 🇯🇲🇳🇬 (@azaleadunn.bsky.social) (@AzaleaDunn) September 8, 2024

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights organisation in the US, along with its Florida chapter, has called for the Florida legislature to censure Fine for his tweet. 

"We struggle to think of another time in modern American history when an elected official openly celebrated the murder of an American by a foreign government and encouraged more such killing. Randy Fine has made it clear where his priorities lie, and it is not with the American people," stated Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR's national deputy executive director, on Monday.

"We urge the Florida House of Representatives to censure him for this hateful, un-American rant," the statement added.

Fine's X account was suspended for a short while, but it has since been reopened.

His post about Eygi now carries restrictions and a warning that it may "violate X's rules against violent speech", with users unable to further share it.

Despite this, Fine has continued to make inflammatory statements, especially against Palestinians and Muslims.

His account on X is filled with posts using hashtags like "#MuslimProblem", "#BombsAway" and "#MuslimTerrorists".

Cair has highlighted various instances of Fine using langauge that "dehumanises all Palestinians and uses Islamophobic tropes," including a comment that read: "Proud to stand with my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, in condemning the Islamic terrorism coming out of Gaza. I fully support Israel using maximum force to punish these animals. #NoMercy."

More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 16,825 children, in Israeli attacks since 7 October.

Middle East Eye reached out to Fine for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.