Miss Puerto Rico Suspended Over Anti-Muslim Tweets

The winner of the 2015 Miss Puerto Rico competition, Destiny Velez, has been suspended indefinitely after a series of anti-Muslim posts appeared on her Twitter account last week. The messages were in response to famed liberal filmmaker Michael Moore’s “We are all Muslim” social media campaign, which encourages people to post photos of themselves with signs bearing the phrase.

While Velez’s Twitter account has since been deleted, the tweets quickly went viral and included messages such as “Muslims use our constitution to terrorize USA and plant gas stations,” “there’s no comparison between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Jews nor Christians have terrorizing agendas in their sacred books,” and “all what Muslims have done is provided oil & terrorize this country & many others!!!!!!”

In addition to deleting her Twitter account, Velez has since released an apology, saying, “I apologize to the people I have offended with my words. I am first and foremost an #UpStander and as such I stand against bullying. The last thing I wanted to do was bully anyone. Again, I apologize to anyone who felt offended with my words.”

The apology may be too little too late for Velez however, as her actions have already lead to both the Miss Puerto Rico and Miss America organizations distancing themselves from her. The former said in a statement:

“In regards to Miss Puerto Rico, Destiny Velez’s, recent actions and conduct; the Miss Puerto Rico organization feels that her words do not represent the integrity and esteem of of our program, nor that of our board members, our sponsors, and partners, or the national organization.”

For their part, the Miss America organization stated that they are working with the Miss Puerto Rico organization to “resolve the issue.”