The man behind the photo in Donald Trump Jr.’s controversial Skittles tweet warning against an influx of Syrian refugees is himself a former refugee.
Donald Trump Jr. sparked outrage Monday by posting an image comparing Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles. Text above a bowl of the candy reads: “If I had a bowl of skittles [sic] and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem.”
{mosads}David Kittos, who photographed the bowl of Skittles that Trump Jr. used, told the BBC he found the tweet offensive.
“I am now a British citizen, but I am a Greek-Cypriot by birth, and in 1974 I was a refugee because of the Turkish occupation,” he said. “I was 6 years old.
“We lived in the area of Cyprus that is now under Turkish military control. We had to leave everything behind overnight. Our property and our possessions.”
Kittos said he would not have given Trump Jr. permission to use his photo.
“I have never put this image up for sale,” he said.
“This was not done with my permission,” added Kittos, who resides in Guildford, U.K. “I don’t support [Donald Trump’s] politics, and I would never take his money to use it.”
Kittos added he is unsure whether he will pursue legal action against Trump’s presidential campaign.
“I would like the Trump campaign to delete the image, but they are probably not interested in what I have to say,” he said.
“I was thinking about getting lawyers involved, but I don’t know if I have the patience,” Kittos added.
“This isn’t about money for me. They could have just bought a cheap image from a micro stock library. This is pure greed from them. They should not be stealing an image, full stop.”
Kittos first posted his photograph of the Skittles in a Flickr post in January 2010.
Kittos, who does not use Twitter, said friends on the social media platform alerted him to Trump Jr.’s post.
Trump, the GOP nominee, has repeatedly called for the U.S. to stop accepting Syrian refugees over fears of terrorism.
“We’re allowing these people to come into our country and destroy our country and make it unsafe,” he said Monday on “Fox & Friends” Monday.
“If somebody looks like he’s got a massive bomb on his back, we won’t go up to that person … because, if he looks like he comes from that part of the world, we’re not allowed to profile. Give me a break.”