Lubbock Radio Host Delivers Very Ugly Comments About Orlando Nightclub Shooting

Local radio host Wade Wilkes delivered off-color, ugly remarks about President Obama, his response to the shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub and the 49 people who lost their lives.

The fact is, I've been aware of what Wilkes said for a few days, but hoped the story would just go away. Now, the story has been picked up by state media, and national media could be next.

Here's the comment he made on his Facebook page:

Hello goofy Obama, it's a hook up bar. No one was 'sharing' ideas or talking about 'civil rights.' They were getting lit, using illegal drugs and spreading STDs.

Let's look at some reality here.

These 49 people whose lives were ended so violently and abruptly were human men and women. They were accountants, hairstylists - there was even a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve (RIP, Antonio Davon Brown). They were brothers, sisters, sons, daughters.

The host in question had no right to cast aspersions on the character of these people. It's wrong anytime, but especially heartless when the blood of the victims hadn't even been cleaned up. He had no idea about the intentions of the patrons, their health or their habits.

As to the part about "sharing ideas" and talking about "civil rights," that quote is taken out of context. The President was talking about the fact that the club was one of the few places that the patrons felt like they could be themselves.

Let me spell that out for you, Mr. Wilkes: When you still have to worry about getting beat up because you're holding hands or kissing the person you love in public, a club like this becomes your everything.

Wilkes, unsurprisingly, has a default response to criticism. He says something offensive, then, when he's called on it, he throws the fact he was an Army Reservist into the conversation so he won't be criticized. But it's not going to work this time.

Our military was represented among the dead at this nightclub, and also among the heroes that saved lives. War veteran Imran Yousuf, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan, helped save 60-70 people.

Wilkes' remarks are an insult to the dead and a perfect example of the type of commentary that has poisoned our national conversation over LGBT rights. His comments are ugly, insensitive and uncalled for.

Sadly, however small the audience, he has people who support him. Lubbock doesn't have to, though. Everyone knows that when a kid acts bratty, they're just begging for attention. And we all know the best thing to do in that situation is ignore them. Moving forward, maybe it's best to just ignore him.

At the end of the day, Lubbock will not support this kind of hate.

The opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author and are not representative of the opinions of Townsquare Media Lubbock, its advertisers or affiliates