Senior Democrat fires aide over post urging Trump shooter ‘don’t miss next time’

The staffer worked for high-profile congressman Bennie Thompson, who chaired the January 6 committee hearings and recently introduced a bill that could have stripped Trump of his Secret Service protection

A staff member who worked for Democratic representative Bennie Thompson is no longer employed by the lawmaker after she allegedly posted “Don’t miss next time” in an apparent response to the assassination attempt against Donald Trump on Saturday.

The now-former case worker and field office manager at Thompson’s Natchez office, identified as Jacqueline Marsaw by reports, had resigned from her position shortly after her social media post started to circulate, local reports state.

Following the shooting incident at Trump’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night that left the former president wounded, one spectator dead and others injured, the staff member allegedly wrote on her personal Facebook page comments such as “I don’t condone violence but please get you some shooting lessons so you don’t miss next time ooops that wasn’t me talking.”

The posts that have now been taken down were screenshotted by staff at the Mississippi GOP, who then posted them on X, and called on Thompson to fire the worker and for him to resign himself.

“I was made aware of a post made by a staff member, and she is no longer in my employment," the Mississippi congressman, who chaired the January 6 committee hearings, said in a statement to Fox News, but did not name the staffer.

Marsaw told the Natchez Democrat Saturday evening that she “got overwhelmed in the moment” and that she is “a diehard Democrat,” adding that her post was meant for comic value and not to be taken seriously.

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten told the outlet that he received a call from Secret Service agents on Sunday saying that they needed assistance locating Marsaw.

The sheriff said that Marsaw fully complied with the federal agents and that the case will now be turned over to the Attorney General and sent to Washington D.C. to determine whether charges are pursued.

Bennie Thompson said one of his staff members is no longer in employment following posts made about Trump’s assassination attempt (AP)

When asked by the outlet if he thought Marsaw bore any malicious intent toward Trump, Patten said:  “I do not. Anybody who knows Jackie knows she is passionate about what she does and gets emotional, sometimes to the point where she makes outbursts like she had when she made the post on social media.”

“She was very remorseful and told the agents that what she did was unwarranted and uncalled for. She continued to apologize throughout the entire 45-minute interview,” he added.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich commented on the situation on X, saying that Marsaw should be fired, adding, “Thompson introduced the resolution to cut off secret service protection for President Trump. With staff like this the poison is deep.”

Thompson has also been criticized following the assassination attempt for a bill he introduced earlier this year regarding secret service protection.

The 76-year-old, a two-time former chair of the House committee on homeland security, introduced a bill that would end Secret Service protection for convicted felons sent to prison in April, a month before Trump would become the first criminally convicted former US president in the hush money trial.

Trump is rushed offstage after his ear was grazed during an assassination attempt (Getty Images)

Donald Trump Jr, the former president’s eldest son, took the time to reference this in a post on X following the assassination attempt, writing, “Remember, if @BennieGThompson and the Democrats got their way, my dad would be dead right now. Don’t let them memory hole it.”

Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also stated on X that “House Democrats, led by Bennie Thompson, introduced a bill to strip USSS protection from President Trump.”

She claimed: “The weaponized DOJ has done everything they can to make sure President Trump spends the rest of his life in PRISON, while sending non-violent J6ers to jail for years. They want President Trump and his supporters dead. We won’t forget.”

In his own statement following the assassination attempt, Thompson wrote on X, “There is no room in American democracy for political violence. I am grateful for law enforcement’s fast response to this incident.

“I am glad the former President is safe, and my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved.”

Trump told The New York Post he is “supposed to be dead” after being wounded in the “surreal” shooting incident at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night.

Minutes into his on-stage campaign speech, gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former president from the rooftop of a building just outside of the rally security perimeter.

Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet, while 50-year-old former fire chief Corey Comperatore was killed in the spray of bullets and two other attendees were rushed to hospital after being injured.

Secret Service agents returned fire on the gunman, shooting him dead.

The Independent’s request for comment has been left by phone at Thompson’s Washington D.C. office.