PETA Deletes Post Linking DC Shooting to Foie Gras Dinner

PETA called on Mallard to drop its foie gras dinner after a shooting in Washington’s Logan Circle neighborhood on the morning of November 12. The animal-rights group posted its appeal beneath news outlets’ coverage of the shooting, linking the planned event to the violence nearby. It deleted the post after facing criticism online.

The shooting left one person dead and four others injured. PETA later said it had also canceled a protest planned outside the restaurant, out of respect for the victims. The group said its post was meant to ask Mallard to remove foie gras from its menu, and argued that people can care about multiple issues at once.

The response did not include an apology. Chef José Andrés criticized the post on X, writing, “People dead and injured and you tweet this?” Other users also rebuked the organization, with one telling it to “read the room.” PETA said it removed the post because people were twisting its message.

The shooting took place at a Vida Fitness gym. The gunman killed himself in his penthouse after an hour-long standoff with police, the reports said.