Lee Moran

Huffington Post

Miss Puerto Rico 2015 has been indefinitely suspended from her role by the island’s official Miss America organization for launching a tirade against Muslims on Twitter.

Destiny Velez, 20, fired off a series of tweets at filmmaker Michael Moore on Thursday in which she blasted the religion, The Washington Times reported.

Moore had posted a picture of himself outside Trump Tower in New York City with a sign reading, “We are all Muslim.” His image was in response to Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., which prompted the #WeAreAllMuslim Twitter hashtag.

Join me. Please make your own sign WE ARE ALL MUSLIM and post it on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook w/ #WeAreAllMuslim pic.twitter.com/dfMBrAyywK

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) December 18, 2015

Velez tweeted directly at Moore multiple times, saying Muslims had “terrorizing agendas,” Latin Times reported.
Her tweets and Twitter account have since been deleted. The phrases she used can still be seen on the Latin Times site, however.

“All what Muslims have done is provided oil & terrorize this country & many others!!!!” she wrote. “There’s NO comparison between Jews, Christians & Muslims. Jews nor Christians have terrorizing agendas in their sacred books.”

“If we are all the same then Muslims need to take off their napkins off of their heads cuz I feel offended by it,” she added.
Velez — who placed outside the top 15 in September’s Miss America 2016 competition, won by Miss Georgia Betty Cantrell — sparked a furious backlash online.

Many Twitter users labeled her a bully, and the hashtags #nonosrepresentas (you don’t represent us) and #verguenzaajena (embarrassment) started trending in Puerto Rico, per Morocco World News.

It led the Miss Puerto Rico Organization, which runs an official preliminary competition for the Miss America Organization, to release a statement Saturday saying Velez had been “suspended indefinitely.”

“In regards to Miss Puerto Rico, Destiny Velez’s, recent actions and conduct; the Miss Puerto Rico Organization feels that her words do not represent the integrity and esteem of our program, nor that of our board members, our sponsors and partners, or the National Organization,” it said in the statement posted to its official Facebook page.
“Miss Velez’s actions were in contradiction to the organization, and therefore as a consequence of her actions, she has been suspended indefinitely. The Miss Puerto Rico Organization will not tolerate any actions or behavior contrary to the Miss Puerto Rico Organization,” it added.

The organization also posted a statement purportedly from Velez, who appears to have also shut down her Tumblr and Instagram pages.
“I apologize to the people I have offended with my words. I am first and foremost an #UpStander and as such I stand up against bullying,” she said.

“The last thing I wanted to do was to bully anyone. Again, I apologize to anyone who felt offended with my words,” she added.

I apologize to anyone who felt offended with my words,”… said Miss Velez.

— Miss Puerto Rico Org (@Miss_America_PR) December 20, 2015