About an hour before news of the queen’s death broke, Bezos cited a tweet from Carnegie Mellon professor Uju Anya, who had written several hours earlier: “Heard that the arch-monarch of a rapacious, thieving, genocidal empire is finally dead. . Let her pain be excruciating.” Bezos, citing the post, then tweeted: “This is someone who is supposed to be working to make the world a better place? I do not think. Wow.” “You should probably keep quiet when it comes to criticisms of the empire + its overlords,” tweeted one user, @corintxt. “Joy,” tweeted another, @AthertonKD. “You have 30, maybe 40 years to throw away your wealth and bend the public memory so that kids don’t celebrate in the streets when the news comes that you’re gone.” Dr. Anya, who describes herself on Twitter as an “anti-racist” and “feminist,” was born in Nigeria to a Nigerian father and mother from Trinidad and Tobago. Both countries were colonized by the British. She responded to Bezos on twitter writing: “Otoro gba gbue gi May all of you and your relentless greed to harm in this world be remembered as fondly as I remember my colonizers. After the Queen’s death – and the professor’s original tweet – he wrote: “If anyone expects me to express anything but contempt for the monarch who oversaw a government that supported the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing on a star.” Twitter later rejected Dr Anya’s first tweet, claiming it violated Twitter’s rules. The Independent has contacted Twitter for comment. Dr Anya launched her own criticism after the now-deleted tweet, as people – not just Bezos – attacked her timing and the meanness of wishing someone a painful death. One user, @Sumolaldowu, called the professor “ugly and rude” and accused her of having “hatred in your heart.” “Talking about someone who just walked by with such a vile and contemptuous comment,” the user commented. Another, @mariescully24, tweeted that “at the end of the day she was a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, it’s absolutely disgusting to talk like she says.” Carnegie Mellon University issued a statement later in the day, tweeting: “We do not condone the offensive and unacceptable messages posted by Uku Anya today on her personal social media account. “Free expression is core to the mission of higher education, however, the views he shared do not fully represent the values of the institution, nor the standards of discourse we seek to promote.” During her historic 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II presided over the country through a period of serious colonial turmoil. Nigeria became independent in 1960, with Trinidad and Tobago following two years later.
