Brooklyn Lawmaker Tweets to GOP Aide: ‘Kill Yourself!’

A New York state senator apologized Tuesday for what he called a “poor choice of words,” after sending a tweet to a legislative staffer telling her to kill herself.

Democrat Kevin Parker’s tweet to Republican Senate aide Candice Giove consisted of only two words: “Kill yourself!” It came after Giove took to Twitter to accuse Parker of misusing a Senate parking placard in Manhattan.

Parker quickly deleted the tweet and later apologized in another message sent to Giove. First elected in 2002, the lawmaker won re-election last month to his district that includes parts of Boro Park and Midwood. Last week he was named the incoming chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.

“I used a poor choice of words,” he wrote. “Suicide is a serious thing and and (sic) should not be made light of.”

But in an interview later, Parker made light of it, terming it a “tempest in a teapot.”

“I’m sure people in my district don’t care,” he told the Albany Times Union. “Come on, people don’t care about that.”

Commenters on Twitter condemned the remarks, with some urging Parker to resign.

The Senate’s incoming leader, Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins, said she was “disappointed” in Parker’s tweet” and added that she was “glad that he has apologized.”

Giove is a spokeswoman for the Senate’s Republican conference. Her office declined to comment on Parker’s tweet.