A Tahoe businessman is feeling the backlash over his Facebook comment about the children of immigrants.
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Parker Alexander, founder of the apparel company The Heartbeat Brand, came under criticism for his comment Saturday on the Facebook account of the news site South Tahoe Now. On a Jan. 27 post of a school superintendent’s letter to families concerning the safety of children amid federal immigration actions, Alexander referred to “illegally bred children” and said, “We don’t owe these children anything.”
Though he spoke of the need for kindness and compassion, he also contended: “When illegals have children, in our school system, our systems inherently become less safe.”
The comment was deleted not long afterward, but screenshots of it began being posted on social media — as were images of Heartbeat Brand hats being set on fire.
By Monday, the company’s merchandise had been removed by several retailers, including all Raley’s stores in Nevada and California, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.
In a social media post early in the furor, Alexander implied that his comments were taken “completely out of context,” and added, “The hate these people have ensued on me, my business, and my character is absolutely dispicable,” the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported.
The Gazette Journal said he responded to one online critic with mockery: “Haha we’re a multi million dollar business, you think you matter? That’s cute”
A later statement he issued to news organizations was apologetic, acknowledging that his words were “poorly articulated and hurtful.”
Some of Alexander’s social media accounts have since been removed and others have disabled commenting.
His online profiles say Alexander was a student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco when he came up with the Tahoe Heartbeat logo, which combines the outline of Lake Tahoe with a heart monitor readout. He began selling hats with the design and has since expanded to merchandise for other regions and hobbies.
• After another public dispute over immigration policy, the Santa Barbara County Office of Education announced Monday that an employee was on paid leave during investigation of a confrontation in Lompoc.
Video showed a woman, whom the Santa Barbara Independent identified as a preschool teacher, mocking and swearing at a group of people who were protesting operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. A reported physical scuffle was not clearly captured on the video.