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Nicholas J. Fuentes, a far-right activist known for leading the so-called “Groyper” movement, has been banned from Twitter for saying the social media company’s rules have been repeatedly violated.
A Twitter spokesperson confirmed on Saturday that it has permanently suspended the @NickJFuentes account from its platform. Twitter prohibits permanently suspended account holders from creating new accounts.
Mr Fuentes, 22, was a verified Twitter user before he was penalized on Friday, meaning his profile and posts on the platform bore a blue checkmark badge reserved only for certain public interest accounts.
Nearly 139,000 Twitter accounts followed the Fuentes profile at the time of its suspension.
Posting on rival platform Telegram, Mr Fuentes claimed there was a link between his suspension from Twitter and a report released the previous day by the Anti-Defamation League civil rights group.
“Nicholas Fuentes is a white supremacist leader and organizer and podcaster seeking to create a white nationalist alternative to the mainstream GOP,” the ADL said in the report, released Thursday.
“ADL released a report about me and hours later I was permanently suspended. That’s what happened,” Mr Fuentes said on Telegram the next day. The ADL did not have an immediate public response.
According to the ADL report, Mr. Fuentes attended the notorious “Unite” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 and was more recently outside the US Capitol when rebels breached the US Capitol on Jan.
The Justice Department has so far charged more than 500 people for crimes related to the Capitol riot. Mr. Fuentes is not among them, but he has nevertheless been named in a relevant court case.
A footnote to the affidavit filed in federal court in February against one of the riot suspects, Christian Secor, cited Mr Fuentes, as well as his far-right Groyper movement and his podcast.
“The Groypers are a network of alt-right figures who are white supremacists and vocal supporters of ‘America First’ podcaster Nick Fuentes,” one FBI agent said in an affidavit.
YouTube previously banned the “America with Nick Fuentes” podcast from its service in early 2020. GoogleThe platform he owns said it had “multiple or serious violations” of its policy against hate speech.
Later, in December, Mr. Fuentes shouted, “Destroy the GOP!” He was caught on camera while leading his chants. Amid a crowd of supporters of then-President Trump protesting in downtown Washington, DC
Mr. Secor, a college student when the riot occurred on 6 January, faces 10 charges, including civil unrest and attacking, resisting or obstructing certain officers. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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