Conservative activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer was kicked off Twitter and stripped of her coveted blue checkmark last week for posts about Sharia law, and she isn't taking it very well. On Thursday afternoon, she chained herself to the doors of Twitter's New York City headquarters, saying she wouldn't leave until Twitter restored her account. Loomer, who is Jewish, wore a yellow Star of David, apparently equating her Twitter ban to Holocaust victims. The protest was live-streamed. Police eventually arrived and asked Loomer if she wanted to be cut free from the door. She said she wanted her Twitter.
"I'm not saying people shouldn't be banned but why are they banning me?" Loomer asked The Verge. She suggested it is because she is conservative. "If I have to, I'll pee on myself," she added. "I haven't eaten or drunken today." Twitter explained in a mid-protest statement that "the account holder was suspended for violating our policies. We apply the Twitter Rules impartially and not based on ideology." Twitter did not press charges.
After about two hours, complaining of the cold, Loomer asked the NYPD to cut her free, and she left in a car. She made quite a splash on Twitter, where her permanent suspension is still in effect, and that probably raised her profile, for better or worse. Fame is a fickle beast. Loomer maybe should have quit when she was auctioneered down by a fast-thinking, fast-talking Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.). Peter Weber
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