Conservatives bullied Ala Buzreba on social media when she was just 16 years old calling her “raghead slut” who should “go back to where she came from”, which prompted the Liberal candidate for Calgary Nose Hill to post the offensive tweets that eventually forced her to drop out of the race, according to her sister.

“These were grown up men and women well over the age of 35 year old picking on a 16 year old kid – telling her that she is invalid, a terrorist, corrupt, worth nothing, a raghead slut who doesn’t deserve life and has no place in Canadian society – that she should ‘go back to where she came from.’” Zehra Tajouri said in a Facebook posting. “These grown up adults with kids of their own were picking on a high school student and when that student replied to them in the same anger, they screenshot her response and victimized themselves as if they were innocent.”

Buzreba stepped down on Tuesday, a few hours after apologizing unreservedly for her offensive tweets, including telling a staunch defender of Israel: “Your mother should have used that coat hanger.”

In another occasion she responded to a racist tweet with “go blow your brains out you waste of sperm.”

“I apologize without reservation for the comments I made a long time ago, as a teenager, but that is no excuse,” Buzreba had tweeted in her apology before stepping down. “They do not reflect my views, who I am as a person, or my deep respect for all communities in our country.”

Buzreba has been receiving messages of support from the members of the public who have been critical of the way mainstream media failed to provide context for Buzreba’s offensive tweets.

“I was pissed they never reported why she went off,” Patrick Bell of Calgary said. “Typical mainstream media just gives you little bits of the story. You know she was provoked. She was also at a very tough age for a teenaged girl.”

“A classic example of quotes being taken out of context,” Calgarian Danny Hogg said. “I knew Ala at the University of Calgary, and she seemed like a very nice person. She has been completely misrepresented by the media. Who hasn’t said offensive things as a teenager?”