Disturbing Tweets From Miss Puerto Rico Got Her Suspended From Miss America
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The official Miss America Organization for Puerto Rico suspended Miss Puerto Rico Destiny Velez after she published a slew of anti-Muslim comments on Twitter.
Velez, whose Twitter account has since been taken off the platform, was responding to filmmaker Michael Moore's social media campaign #WeAreAllMuslim, a reaction to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's controversial call to ban Muslims in the U.S.
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Velez, who was born in Puerto Rico but went to high school in Texas, tweeted several negative things about Muslims, including, "Muslims use our constitution to terrorize USA & plant gas stations."
Twitter - twitter.com
"If we are all the same then Muslims need to take off their napkins off of their heads cuz I feel offended by it," she wrote. "All what Muslims have done is provided oil & terrorize this country & many others!!!! There's NO comparison between Jews, Christians & Muslims. Jews nor Christians have terrorizing agendas in their sacred books."
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Though some users supported the 20-year-old's sentiment, she received ample backlash on Twitter, and the hashtags #nonosrepresentas ("you don't represent us") and #verguenzaajena ("embarrassment") began trending in Puerto Rico, according to the Morocco World News, to speak out against her remarks.
The Miss Puerto Rico Organization said in a statement on Saturday that her words "do not represent the integrity and esteem of our program, nor that of our board members, our sponsors and partners, or the National Organization."
"Miss Velez’s actions were in contradiction to the organization, and therefore as a consequence of her actions, she has been suspended indefinitely," the statement continued. "The Miss Puerto Rico Organization will not tolerate any actions or behavior contrary to the Miss Puerto Rico Organization."
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The organization also shared a statement of apology from Velez, who was working on an anti-bullying campaign called #UpStander when she was crowned Miss Puerto Rico. She has also worked with anti-bullying organization, The Bully Project, according to her LinkedIn page:
"I apologize to the people I have offended with my words. I am first and foremost an #UpStander and as such I stand up against bullying. The last thing I wanted to do was to bully anyone. Again, I apologize to anyone who felt offended with my words."
Velez placed outside the top 15 in September's Miss America 2016 competition, which Miss Georgia Betty Cantrell won. Following the Twitter controversy, it appears as if she has since deleted her Instagram page in addition to her Twitter account.
After being crowned the 2015 Miss Puerto Rico over the summer, she said in a statement to Prairie View A&M University, "We should all work together for a goal to break the cycle of violence, stop peer cruelty and provide our children with caring, safe, and respectful environments they so deserve. Together, we can be the generation that eradicates bullying."
