title: CHICAGO DELI OWNER Says He Was Relieved To Hear Las Vegas Massacre Happened At Country Music Festival: “White people shooting white people isn’t terror … it’s community outreach”
text: Chicago Tribune   Just weeks after stoking controversy by using Nazi imagery on his Jewish deli s Facebook page, the co-owner of Max s Deli in Highland Park again has ignited outrage   this time with a tweet he fired off in response to the Las Vegas shootings. Soon as I heard it was country music, I felt relief. White people shooting white people isn t terror   it s community outreach. #LasVegas,  the tweet read.Morelli attempted to apologize for his remark:Morelli, who described himself as politically  lost  with no allegiances, said his tweet about the deaths was thoughtless. It was a dumb joke and it didn t work. I own it. It was stupid,  Morelli said. It was seven in the morning and I was stressed out and freaked out by the shooting,  he added.  I was trying to participate, and all I did was put my foot in my mouth. But is he really sorry, or is he only doing damage control?  Only one month ago, Morelli posted this vile image on Max s Deli s Facebook page. Although Morelli admitted that after his post, his family, who were affected by his outrageous post, are  done  with him. Chicago Tribune   Highland Park deli is facing backlash over a Facebook post that includes a cartoon drawing of a man wearing a Nazi armband, giving a stiff-armed salute and donning a T-shirt reading,  I m with Alt-Right. Greg Morelli, who owns Max s Deli with his brother, posted the image last week. Morelli frequently posts the deli s menu along with cartoon drawings he creates to the restaurant s Facebook page. He said the recent events in Charlottesville inspired him to use the page to make a strong political statement. I have a Jewish deli, I am a Jewish man,  Morelli said.  I am the first person that s going to get a brick through the window if this plague is not stopped immediately. Morelli, 49, said the image was of an alt-right member who has hair evocative of President Donald Trump, but was not meant to be a depiction of the president himself.The full post and its related image are still on the deli s Facebook page.He said the deli was inundated with calls on Thursday as the post began to spread on Facebook and through news stories. Callers have been criticizing the post s imagery and its political message, he said.The effect of the post on his family has been difficult and Morelli says they are  done with him. When you create a storm, everyone that loves you just wants you to take the easy path,  he said.In a Facebook post on the restaurant s page Thursday evening, Morelli did not back down from the discussion the initial image provoked. I do not regret getting involved. I do not regret speaking out,  he wrote.  I do not regret assigning symbolism to hatred. I do not regret being trashed on Facebook. That said, it hurt. When asked about the specific use of Nazi imagery in the post and the reaction to not just his intended message, but the image itself, Morelli said the symbolism was a necessary point to make. We have to use the imagery and assign it to the groups so we know how to react,  Morelli said.  I happen to find satire very powerful. 