Laura Loomer Tweets About Alligators Getting “65 Million Meals” Day Before Opening of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Political personality Laura Loomer regularly posts inflammatory tweets. People know her for making outlandish claims and sharing downright offensive content. Her latest tweet, which supports the infamous “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades, is catching everyone’s attention. In the tweet, she implies that alligators will get “65 million” guaranteed meals.
Political personality Laura Loomer is at it again
Social media users are angry following an incendiary tweet from the agitator. The tweet reads, “Alligator lives matter. The good news is, alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we get started now.” People are calling out Laura Loomer for seemingly advocating for feeding people to alligators the day before “Alligator Alcatraz” opened.
Crews built the detention center in the Florida Everglades in just a few days. The facility now serves as a new place to hold people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But the number “65 million” is what has people talking. Loomer’s tweet suggests she isn’t interested in the undocumented community.
Based on population data, an estimated 11 million undocumented people are living in the United States. Meanwhile, 65 million Latine people are living in the country. Social media users are aghast that a public figure seemingly called for the death of an entire group of people.
People are calling out the callous tweet
The use of “65 million” is sparking waves of anger on social media. People are pointing out the significance of the number. One social media user also points out how the Trump administration and its allies have shifted their talking points. They seem to change their target depending on what is politically expedient. Even if they intend it as satire, this kind of dangerous rhetoric remains alarming to see.
Some are calling it a call for a genocide focused on the Latine community. The focus on 65 million in reference to population data is just too similar and specific to overlook for some. Coupled with the trend of American citizens being detained by ICE agents, people feel vindicated in their assumptions about the MAGA movement.
This is also an old form of intimidation and violence against nonwhite people. Enslavers and white people during slavery and the Jim Crow Era used enslaved Black babies as alligator bait. The practice is documented at the Jim Crow Museum. They were used to lure alligators for hunting. The historical context of Loomer’s tweet further flames the truly racist and dangerous implications of putting it out into the world.
She claims the use of questionable data to support her number
Multiple studies put the number of undocumented people living in the U.S. at or around 11 million. Regardless of the claims, Loomer is not correct in her assertion that 65 million undocumented people are living in the U.S. However, she does seem to think that the issue with her tweet is that the number is too similar to the larger Latine population.
To be clear, the issue is the implication that people should be fed to alligators. Labeling people as undocumented to justify the use of “65 million” does not change the tweet’s dangerous remarks. Yet, Loomer thinks that claiming that there are 65 million undocumented people excuses her and makes the tweet more palatable.
In her follow-up tweet, she references a book from Ann Coulter, her provocateur predecessor, and imaginary math to legitimize her total. At the end, she says, “I hope the gators are breeding.”
