A new tweet has surfaced showing David Chipman, the former Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent who defended the federal government’s massacre at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas who was tapped by the Biden administration to run the ATF bashing the state of Alabama, Americans who voted for President Donald Trump, and Christians in only 13 words.
The recently resurfaced tweet, posted on August 20, 2015, features Chipman mocking a woman holding a sign that reads “Thank you Lord Jesus, President Trump” while smiling at the then-presidential candidate. The photo was taken at one of President Trump’s early rallies in Alabama. “Alabama. Only 9 electoral votes. Now that deserves a Thank You Lord Jesus,” wrote Chipman.
The BidenNoms Twitter account, which is “Conducting non-partisan research and fact-checking into the Executive Branch of Government” sponsored by the American Accountability Foundation, resurfaced the tweet. “Mocking Christians and smearing southerners. Shameful,” tweeted the account. “America deserves a leader for all Americans not @davidchipman an Acela-corridor liberal looking dow his nose at Alabamians and the south.”
Mocking Christians and smearing southerners. Shameful! America deserves a leader for all Americans not @davidchipman an Acela-corridor liberal looking down his nose at Alabamians and the south. https://t.co/Tx4amNZD8O pic.twitter.com/LMSyXyrBJY
— BidenNoms, A Project of AAF (@bidennoms) May 25, 2021
In a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” thread, Chipman previously defended the ATF’s massacre of women and children during the Branch Davidian standoff by falsely asserting that the Branch Davidians shot down an ATF helicopter. National File reported:
After repeatedly bringing up .50 caliber rifles, which are barely used to commit crimes in the United States, Chipman claimed that at the Waco massacre in 1993, where the actions of ATF agents led to the deaths of 82 men, women, and children, “cult members used 2 .50 caliber Barretts to shoot down two Texas Air National Guard helicopters.”
However, this simply wasn’t true. As the Daily Caller noted, “while the Branch Davidians did reportedly shoot at and damage a trio of helicopters that were flown over their compound, none were shot down, and no federal agents were injured.” A House report from 1996 reads that the helicopters “sustained damage from weapons fire, [but] none of the National Guard crews or ATF aboard were injured.”
In the thread, Chipman called for many restrictions on firearms, including arguing that “all gun sales should be limited to licensed gun stores where a background check and paperwork is required,” and that there should be a ban on production on sales of all assault rifles. This is despite the fact that he admitted carrying a concealed firearm sometimes in public.
Both The Washington Post and The New York Times accept Chipman to sail through the confirmation process to become the permanent head of the ATF, which the Post seems to gleefully editorialize is an “agency conservatives hate.” A total of 69 House Republicans sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) opposing the nomination. Chipman is set to be confirmed today.