A Chicago business consultant whose Twitter profile (since deleted) described him as a former Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama volunteer has been fired from his job for tweeting disparaging remarks about the widow of a slain Navy SEAL honored by President Trump in a speech to Congress on 28 February 2017.
Dan Grilo, who, until 1 March 2017, was a principal at Liberty Advisor Group in Chicago, reacted to Gold Star widow Carryn Owens' tearfully applauding Trump's tribute to the first American combatant to die during his presidency, U.S. Navy Special Operator Senior Chief William "Ryan" Owens, by tweeting that she was helping neither herself nor her husband's memory "by standing there clapping like an idiot."
Despite having fewer than 5,000 followers, Grilo's tweet quickly made the social media rounds, earning the condemnation of practically everyone, including the president's son, Donald Trump, Jr.:
Hatred from the other side. I would think this is beyond what a human is capable of saying to someone, but it's not! pic.twitter.com/nNVfFWJmDh
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 1, 2017
Grilo attempted several times to apologize, but the Internet wasn't buying it:
Some took it upon themselves to alert Grilo's employer, who acted swiftly to counter the negative publicity by announcing the opinionated tweeter was "no longer affiliated" with the company:
An inappropriate Tweet by a Liberty employee last night does NOT reflect the views of Liberty Advisor Group.https://t.co/qEMnMezbcW pic.twitter.com/CkpX2W6UW3
— Liberty Advisor Grp (@LibertyAdvisor) March 1, 2017
As of 1 March, Grilo's name and profile had disappeared from Liberty Advisor Group's web site. Grilo has been incommunicado since deleting his Twitter account the same day. Our efforts to contact Liberty Advisor Group for further comment have not yet yielded a reply.