Tara Ganguly, a newly-appointed member of the Northampton Human Rights Commission, has used her Twitter account to take sharply worded and sometimes profane jabs at a wide range of people.
Tara Ganguly, a newly-appointed member of the Northampton Human Rights Commission, has used her Twitter account to take sharply worded and sometimes profane jabs at a wide range of people. Credit: TWITTER SCREENSHOT

NORTHAMPTON — A newly appointed member of the city’s Human Rights Commission has used her personal Twitter page to take sharply worded and sometimes profane jabs at a wide range of people. But Mayor David Narkewicz said Monday he sees no reason to reconsider her appointment. 

Northampton attorney Tara Ganguly sent out tweets that, among other things, encourage “morons” to kill themselves, criticize Black Lives Matter protesters as ineffective, say that the mother of Ferguson police shooting victim Michael Brown was “not mom of the year,” and opine about an allegedly neglectful mother, “Tie her tubes. Now.” 

UPDATE: Ganguly has decided she will not serve on the Human Rights Commission following publication of this story.

Ganguly was recommended through an application process by Narkewicz, vetted by Councilor At-Large Ryan O’Donnell and approved by a unanimous City Council vote on Thursday.

Ganguly is forceful with her opinions on the publicly accessible social media account, sometimes suggesting that those she disagrees with should kill themselves.

“I have no problem encouraging complete morons to commit suicide,” she wrote in one tweet. “If you don’t like that I don’t give a sh–.”

And the often-derogatory suggestions extend beyond the virtual world.

“Cyclist almost killed my dog this morning,” Ganguly wrote. “He fell off and yelled at me. I hope he broke his f—ing arm.”

When asked about her online commentary, Ganguly told the Gazette she never actually wished anyone harm, but was being “facetious.”  She said she was angry when she made the statements, and that she uses Twitter as a platform to vent.

“I don’t apologize for anything I’ve said,” she said. “If people don’t want me on a local Human Rights Commission that hears problems because of a few pithy, sharp-worded, biting tweets, I think that’s ridiculous. I think I have a lot to bring to the table.”

Narkewicz didn’t know about the tweets until a Gazette reporter inquired Monday. After looking through them, the mayor said that while he may disagree with some of them, he saw nothing actionable. Strong opinions about people, he said, are what spurs people to serve on such a commission.

“That tends to be the kinds of folks who want to engage on these kinds of issues,” Narkewicz said. “I didn’t see anything that would disqualify her or anyone else from serving on a city board.”

The Human Rights Commission is a body charged with advocating for and informing city residents of civil rights issues locally. Five members left in recent months, some objecting to the commission’s limited, advisory role. Three of those positions were filled with the council’s vote Thursday.

The commission will meet Wednesday at 5:30 in the council chambers.

While Ganguly said some of the tweets were sarcastic, she said others accurately reflect her opinions, which she acknowledges are “strong.”

In a post about a Black Lives Matter event in July, she called organizers ineffectual. 

“As usual. It makes them feel better without actually doing anything.”

Ganguly said this sense that people are just waiting around for things to happen is what inspired her to join the commission. 

“The conversation needs to be broader,” she said. “Just having a bunch of white people standing in the street doesn’t help people standing in the projects of Chicago.” 

Ganguly also takes aim at some of the figures within the movement.

“Having Michael Brown’s mother speak at the (Democratic National Convention) is pandering,” she wrote. “Her son should not have died. He was a criminal. She’s not mom of the year.”

Ganguly said institutional racism is real and present, but she’s critical of the Black Lives Matter movement because she said it pits people against each other and misses the bigger picture.

“I think a lot of people in the movement, of every color, don’t want to recognize that the issues are broader than that, that poverty is created by other issues other than straight-up racism,” she said. “And straight-up racism does exist — I’m not denying it.”

She also does not shy away from voicing her opinions on whether or not people should have children.

Regarding one Arkansas mother who police say did nothing as her boyfriend beat her 4-year-old child, she wrote: “This woman already has 6 kids. Tie her tubes. Now.”

Ganguly also asserted that indebted people lacking education should not have kids.

“It’s the height of arrogance to think you can be a dropout, have 120K in debt, and still have kids,” she said in a tweet.

Commenting about the number of black children being raised by single mothers, she tweeted: “Hard truth. Yes, lots of black men incarcerated. Lots also don’t use condoms.”

Ganguly said that her comments about parenting and birth control stem from what she’s seen in her work as a criminal defense lawyer. Child welfare needs more attention, she said, and responsible family planning must be forcefully encouraged.

“These are huge, complex issues — we don’t do anything as a society to prevent people from growing up into criminals and into people who make really, really bad decisions and life choices,” Ganguly told the Gazette. “I work on these cases where people abuse their kids, people neglect their kids and then we’re shocked they grow up and turn out badly.”

Like the mayor, Councilor O’Donnell said he was unaware of Ganguly’s active Twitter account. 

“I had not read anything on her Twitter page and I didn’t suspect one would find statements of that kind,” O’Donnell said. “It’s quite a surprise to me.”

Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.