A former GOP donor, who once made headlines after calling former president Barack Obama the N-word, fatally shot himself after attempting to kill his wife, according to reports.
Police report that the tragic altercation happened on Monday, Oct. 9, outside a BurgerFi restaurant around 8 p.m. While standing in the parking lot, Steve Alembik shot his wife, psychologist Dawn Polen, who ran into the eatery before turning the gun on himself.
She survived the shooting, though in critical condition; however, the 72-year-old did not.
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A Palm Beach County Office spokesperson said, “She was treated at the scene and transported to Delray Medical Center, where she underwent emergency surgery,” according to the Messenger.
Authorities are currently unclear about Alembik’s motives behind the attempted murder-suicide. However, sources say he had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Alembik, a Boca Raton resident, was a donor to former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and then-Gov. Rick Scott. Over the past two decades, he has donated more than $200,000 in political donations, mostly to Republican candidates.
The donor became a conservative media darling, dressing up often in Old Glory-inspired outfits and tweeting racist comments about Obama in 2018, calling him a Muslim N-word.
He told reporters he made the tweet because he was upset that the then-president said the GOP had become a party filled with division. He said he was not racist but was “an emotional human being.”
“So, somebody like Chris Rock can get up onstage and use the word, and there’s no problem,” he said, “But some white guy says it, and he’s a racist? Really? I grew up in New York in the ’50s. We were the k**es. They were the n******. They were the g**im. And those were the s***s.”
Despite his insistence that the comments didn’t make him racist, the backlash was swift, forcing DeSantis’ campaign to declare they would no longer accept money from him or his company. Scott, who was running for a U.S. Senate seat, donated Alembik’s $1,100 contribution to charity after the remarks. DeSantis’ office said they would not return money already spent during the primary season.
“We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: we adamantly denounce this sort of disgusting rhetoric,” said the campaign spokesman Stephen Lawson, according to the Associated Press.
Alembik was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. On Thursday afternoon, Jennifer Remaland Alembik, his ex-wife and the mother of his three daughters, sent a funeral notice to Republican Party members, a homegoing service scheduled for Friday, Oct. 20.
Many GOP heavyweights took to social media to give tributes, including Trump and DeSantis.
Former U.S. House candidate and far-right commentator Laura Loomer posted her thoughts about her friend on X, saying: “The tragedy surrounding Steve’s suicide has shocked everyone, and as details come out, people will probably be judgmental. I hope he is remembered for all of the good he did throughout his life as opposed to the darkness and tragedy that surrounds his last moments on this planet.”
