PETA sparked outrage on social media Thursday after invoking a deadly mass shooting in Washington, DC, to campaign against a foie gras dinner planned at a restaurant in the nation’s capital.
“An active shooting has been down the block from Mallard restaurant in DC, which is planning a foie gras dinner tonight,” the animal rights group wrote in a post on X. The message included a photo of police blocking off the street near the gym where Dr. Matt Lambert allegedly shot five people, killing one.
After stating that PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk was “on scene,” the group questioned whether the restaurant would “show its neighbors the consideration it’s refused to show ducks.”
The post drew swift condemnation from social media users, who accused PETA of exploiting the tragedy.
“You should be so ashamed of this tweet,” celebrity chef Jose Andres wrote on X. “People dead and injured and you tweet this?”
Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich shared PETA’s post with the caption: “*picks up jaw off the floor*”
“My gosh, read the room,” another stunned X user wrote. “It’s food. Irrelevant to today’s tragedy.”
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“There is something deeply wrong with this organization,” journalist Yashar Ali said in response to the post.
In a subsequent statement, PETA said it had deleted the original message but did not apologize for it.
“The shooting this morning in DC was in PETA’s neighborhood, and these were our neighbors who were impacted. We canceled a protest scheduled today in front of Mallard restaurant for its despicable sale of foie gras out of respect for the victims of the shooting, and in our tweet, we were calling on the restaurant to help eliminate violence by pulling the cruel item from its menu,” the group said.
“We took down our tweet because people who support and take part in the violent killing of ducks and geese for foie gras, like Chef Jose Andres, were twisting it,” the statement continued. “Yet we encourage everyone to remember that it is possible to care about more than one thing at a time and to respect all life.”
Lambert allegedly shot his building manager, James Stuart, inside a Vida Fitness gym Thursday morning during a dispute over mold. He then fired at four other people from the balcony of his apartment.
After an hour-long standoff with police, Lambert killed himself inside his penthouse.
