Max's Deli Owner: Vegas Shooting Not Terror, 'Community Outreach'; Apologizes

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — About a month after he apologized for his illustration of a Nazi on his Jewish high holiday menu, the co-owner of Max's Deli in Highland Park has issued another lengthy apology for a social media post.

"Soon as I heard it was country music, I felt relief. White people shooting white people isn't terror," tweeted Greg Morelli Monday morning. "[I]t's community outreach. #LasVegas"

At least 59 people were killed in Las Vegas Sunday night in a mass shooting, in which a single man with an arsenal of firearms is believed to have shot more than 400 people in about 15 minutes before killing himself.

Also See:The Victims Of The Las Vegas Shooting

He apologized on the deli's Facebook page the following morning.

"I own the words I wrote. They hurt people. I apologize," he wrote. "Sorry to my staff, who took too many threatening phone calls, got scared and closed early. Sorry to my mom, who read all the comments, took them to heart and fears for my life. I let you down, Mom. Sorry to my brother. I don’t know what else to say."

Morelli's illustration of a Nazi wearing a shirt reading "I'm with the alt-right" drew international attention after it was posted to Max's Deli's Facebook page Aug. 23 in the wake of far-right rallies and a vehicular terror attack in Charlottesville, Virginia.

»Related: Nazi Salutes Jewish Deli Menu

In an Aug. 31 post about the attention his drawing received, Morelli wrote he "Was Wrong," but added that he did not "regret getting involved" and desired a "robust conversation." (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Highland Park — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

In his "mass apology" for his tweet calling the Las Vegas mass shooting, the deadliest in modern American history, "community outreach," Morelli said he was "freaked out."

"I tried to participate. But all I did is put my foot in my mouth."

_{Top photo:Max's Deli in Highland Park (Google Street View)}