TORONTO – A Michigan woman who dressed up as a Boston Marathon bombing victim for Halloween has apologized for what she describes as an insensitive costume after receiving death threats on social media.
Dressed in a bloodied t-shirt complete with a runner’s bib, the woman – identified by Buzzfeed as 22-year-old Alicia Ann Lynch – posted a photo of the costume to Twitter over the weekend.
As the photo was circulated around social media, Lynch began receiving nasty tweets from outraged users – many condemned her decision to make light of the April bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260.
Even victims of the Boston Marathon bombing reached out to Lynch on Twitter to express their outrage.
One user, who identifies themselves as Sydney Corcoran on Twitter, tweeted Lynch on Saturday explaining that she almost died in the Boston Marathon bombing, alongside her mother who lost both of her legs in the explosion.
According to the report by Buzzfeed, the cyber attacks against Lynch quickly escalated when users found a photograph of her driver’s license on her Instagram account. Users quickly began circulating and tweeting her personal information – from her full name to her address.
Lynch, who has since disabled her Twitter account, later tweeted an apology noting that her parents had also been subjected to death threats.
“Plz stop with the death threats towards my parents. They did nothing wrong. I was the one in the wrong and I am paying for being insensitive,” Lynch tweeted.
Lynch later said she had been fired from her job because of the costume tweeting, “I am paying for what I thought was a simple joke. I know it was wrong now. I wasn’t thinking.”
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Lynch expressed regret over her costume choice, adding that she meant no disrespect to the victims and their families.
“What I did may have been wrong, but is it truly right to wish harm upon someone and say that you’re doing it for the victims? As being a part of a tragic event I never would ever wish what had happened to me upon someone else, as I can say most people wouldn’t wish death upon someone to ‘make it right’,” said Lynch in an email exchange with Buzzfeed.
Outrage over the costume continued on Twitter Monday, but some users urged others to stop the online tormenting of Lynch.
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