GOP lawmaker shares photo on Facebook criticizing Emma Gonzalez

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) on Sunday shared a photo on Facebook criticizing Emma Gonzalez, the gun rights activist and survivor of the last month’s Parkland, Fla., high school shooting.

King on his Facebook page shared a photo of Gonzalez that criticized her for promoting gun control while wearing a patch on her jacket of the Cuban flag.

“This is how you look when you claim Cuban heritage yet don’t speak Spanish and ignore the fact that your ancestors fled the island when the dictatorship turned Cuba into a prison camp, after removing all weapons from its citizens; hence their right to self defense,” the text in the Facebook post said. 

King shared the photo on his Facebook page after Gonzalez gave an emotional speech Saturday at the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. 

During the event, Gonzalez held a moment of silence to mark the amount of time it took a gunman to kill 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Gun control has become a central issue in the U.S. since the Florida shooting, with students demanding that lawmakers pass new gun laws to keep their schools safe.

Hundreds of thousands of people took part in marches on Saturday in cities across the country to protest gun violence and call for change.

King is well-known for a pugnacious stye in interviews and on social media that has led to a number of controversies on issues such as immigration.