President Trump Sparks Outrage by Signing Photos of Victims Killed by Undocumented Immigrants

President Trump held a White House event honoring the victims of murders perpetrated by illegal immigrants on Friday, where he signed photos of the deceased.

The President brought the families of murder victims up on stage with him on Friday night to represent what he called the “other side” of the issue of immigration. President Trump was responding the outrage of his Justice Department’s policy of detaining those attempting to cross the border illegally and separating children from their parents. According to a report by the New York Daily News, he called his guests “angel parents” and “angel families,” who had lost their relatives to violence carried out by illegal immigrants.

The families stood beside President Trump holding up poster-sized photos of their deceased relatives. For reasons that no one could easily explain, each of them bore President Trump’s distinct signature in bold black marker. The signatures were seen as an act of vanity and narcissism on Twitter, where he was summarily mocked.

“It appears all 11 photos of victims displayed on stage at the event honoring so-called angel families were signed by President Trump,” pointed out Yahoo News correspondent Dylan Stableford.

“He really will put his name on anything,” joked comedian Johnny McNulty.

“This miscreant Donald Trump signed Families photos of people killed by immigrants,” wrote one person. “He’s named them Angel Families. We honor them but Trump using people for his own ends is unconscionable.”

“HOW do you let this bigot, liar, dumbass DEFACE those photos with his wanna be like Nieman Marcus signature??” tweeted another. “HE SIGNED THEIR (not his) PHOTOS FOR EFFIN PR PURPOSES… AND YOU LET HIM!! SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!!”

Dan Scavino Jr., the White House social media director, later said that the families had all requested that Trump sign their pictures. They reportedly met wit the president privately before the event.

“We’re gathered today to hear from the American victims of illegal immigration,” the president said at the podium. “You know, you hear the other side. You never hear this side.”

“These are the American citizens permanently separated from their loved ones,” he continued. “The word ‘permanently’ being the word that you have to think about. Permanently – they’re not separated for a day or two days, these are permanently separated because they were killed by criminal illegal aliens.”

A report by NPR sought to put the president’s rhetoric in perspective, pointing out a study by the Cato Institute examining immigration and crime statistics earlier this year. Using data from 2015, it found that illegal immigrants were 25& less likely to be convicted of homicide than native-born American citizens. They were also found to be 11.5 percent less likely to be convicted of sexual assault, and 79 percent less likely to be convicted of larceny.

The event came shortly after the president had signed an executive order ending his policy of separating families at the border. However, he still allowed for children and adults to be detained in facilities that have so far eluded thorough inspection.