The Onion jokes about death of heroic father slain by assassin at Trump rally: 'Pure evil'



The Onion, a Chicago-based liberal satire publication that was recently purchased by longtime Democratic donor and Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson, stooped to a new low Tuesday in a desperate attempt to score points against President Donald Trump.

The satire publication made a punchline out of the death of Corey Comperatore — a heroic former firefighter who died trying to save his family from bullets intended for Kamala Harris' political opponent.

During the presidential debate, Harris said, "I'm gonna invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies because its a really interesting thing to watch."

Harris suggested that those in attendance will notice "people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom."

The Onion tweeted, "FACT CHECK[.] Trump: 'People don't leave my rallies.' TRUE: They're carried out in body bags."

On July 13, failed assassin and ActBlue donor Thomas Matthew Crooks fired several shots at Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

'Pure evil.'

Crooks only hit the ear of the man Democrats had characterized as a "clear and present danger." However, his trigger pulls still left one American family without its patriarch.

Dr. Jim Sweetland, an emergency department physician, told CBS News that he had attempted to save a man shot at the rally, who suffered a gunshot wound to the head and collapsed between the bleachers.

"There was lots of blood," said the doctor. "I looked up to see his family, who witnessed my efforts and resuscitation, and the look on their faces said it all."

When the gunshots first rang out, Comperatore, the former fire chief for the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, used his body to shield his wife and daughter.

Allyson Comperatore told ABC News last month, "As he was throwing me down, that was when he was shot. He ended up falling onto me. I was like, confused, and I went, 'Dad?' And when I turned is whenever he fell down and that's when I started screaming."

Helen Comperatore, the victim's wife, emphasized, "He definitely was a hero. He saved his wife. He saved his child. He was just the best guy."

While the Onion's joke at the expense of the late hero and his surviving family members may have privately resonated with leftists, it was met with widespread ridicule online.

"Shame on you," tweeted Libs of TikTok. "This is evil."

Conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck responded, "Delete this. People are grieving you evil ghouls."

Starbuck noted in a subsequent message, "Making fun of people who were murdered is absolutely disgusting in every way @theonion. Imagine the family members seeing this while still grieving a senseless murder driven by extremist political hatred against Republicans. Pure evil."

"There's a debate between Trump and Kamala tonight and you chose to make fun of a fireman who was shot in the head while sitting next to his family," wrote Colin Rugg, co-founder of Trending Politics.

The Onion was acquired by a firm known as Global Tetrahedron earlier this year.

Extra to former Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson — an individual who recently was seen partying with the Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson — Axios indicated that the individuals behind Global Tetrahedron are former NBC News reporter Ben Collins, former TikTok executive Leila Brillson, and former Tumblr executive Danielle Strle.

Brillson is the Onion's chief marketing officer. Strle is chief product officer. Collins serves as CEO.

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CEO announces 11% cut to staff, promises 'anti-racist' layoffs



On Wednesday, Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson issued a company-wide email announcing the reduction of staff by 11%. Lawson assured employees that the company would make firing decisions through an "Anti-Racist/Anti-Oppression lens."

Founded in 2008, Twilio is a customer engagement software company. As of 2021, the company reportedly employed 7,867 staffers, according to CNBC. An 11% reduction in staff would mean job losses for over 800 Twilio employees, also referred to as "Twilions."

Co-founder and CEO Jeff Lawson's email announced the company's need to restructure and scale back staff to increase profitability. Lawson said that he takes responsibility for scaling up the business too quickly.

He called the decision to lay off staff "extremely difficult" but necessary to realign with Twilio's four priorities, including "investing in our platform reliability and trust, increasing the profitability of messaging, accelerating Segment adoption, and scaling the Flex customer base."

"Twilio has grown at an astonishing rate over the past couple years. It was too fast, and without enough focus on our most important company priorities. I take responsibility for those decisions, as well as the difficult decision to do this layoff," Lawson's email read.

The CEO addressed how Twilio has determined which staff to let go and stated the company implemented "a rigorous selection process to examine which roles were most tightly aligned to our four priorities."

"As you all know, we are committed to becoming an Anti-Racist/Anti-Oppression company. Layoffs like this can have a more pronounced impact on marginalized communities, so we were particularly focused on ensuring our layoffs – while a business necessity today – were carried out through an Anti-Racist/Anti-Oppression lens," the email read.

Twilio employees who lost their positions in this round of layoffs will receive minimally 12 weeks of pay and a week of pay for every year they have been with the company. In addition, they will also receive the full value of the company's next stock vesting.

Lawson concluded, "I am confident that we'll look back at this as a difficult time – but one that set up Twilio well for the future."