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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Gustaf Kilander

‘Superior’ Canadian TikToker attacked over video about American ‘failure’ to act on gun control

Screenshots / TikTok / @messy.elliott

A Canadian TikToker has been attacked over her video about the American “failure” to act on gun control.

Ellie, going by the username @messy.elliott, made the video in reaction to a post from an unnamed Australian performer who requested that people don’t bring firearms to her shows during her US tour.

Americans reacted by calling her comments “tone-deaf”. Ellie defended the unnamed performer, arguing that it was a “valid concern”.

“You obviously don’t give a s*** about yourselves ... If it sounds at any point like we’re making a mockery” of gun violence “it’s only because we feel so bad for you,” she said. “You actively keep electing officials that don’t give a s*** about you.”

The video went viral, with her saying that she had turned “ripping” the US and Americans into being part of her brand and “genetic code” on TikTok.

Ellie deleted her viral video from her account as Americans on TikTok began to engage with her post and as they started to respond to other videos she made thrashing the US. The woman was derided as acting “superior”.

The account was later banned, possibly after being reported to TikTok, The Messenger noted.

Multiple videos on her profile scolded Americans, with titles such as “Things We Have In Canada That Would Send Americans Into A Maple-Flavored Coma”.

Many TikTokers in the US responded to Ellie’s video bashing her arguments, noting that all weapons are usually banned at concert halls and that the US isn’t a “hive mind” on the issue of guns.

The user @klimpaloon said that “the only difference between us” who are against guns “and those who are visiting who are afraid of getting shot is that we live here”.

Some users pointed to the US history of gerrymandering districts to decrease the power of some parts of the electorate, a practice that has often been employed in a racially biased fashion.

TikTok user @jesselbee is a Canadian who has lived in the US for about 15 years. She shared images of districts about 45 minutes outside Toronto and then a district encompassing parts of San Antonio and Austin in Texas to explain the effects of US gerrymandering.

“Americans live every single day under the threat of gun violence, and you can see from the map that I just showed you, that our hands are tied,” she said.

Mikki Kendall, the author of Hood Feminist, said that “The American government wouldn’t be able to do what it does to its citizens without the support of other nations who turn a blind eye to what goes on here”.

“Why are you and your country standing idly by while the government of our country kills us?” she asked.

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