Laura Loomer, a conservative activist and provocateur recently suspended from Twitter, handcuffed herself to a door outside the company’s New York City headquarters Thursday in protest.
Ms. Loomer, 25, started the stunt shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday, eight days after her Twitter account was suspended over a tweet criticizing Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat.
“I’m here for the millions of conservatives who have been censored by Jack Dorsey,” Ms. Loomer said after shackling herself to Twitter’s headquarters Thursday, referring to the company’s co-founder and chief executive.
“I put away the key,” she added. “I’ll be here as long as it takes.”
Twitter “notified the relevant authorities who are responding,” a company spokesperson told The Washington Times.
Ms. Loomer “was suspended for violating our policies,” said the spokesperson. “We apply the Twitter Rules impartially and not based on ideology. “
The incident ended after roughly 2.5 hours when New York Police Department officers used bolt cutters to sever Ms. Loomer’s handcuffs at her request, The Verge reported. She was not placed under arrest, the report said.
A self-described investigative journalist, Ms. Loomer previously served as a reporter for The Rebel Media, a conservative Canadian website, before linking up in 2017 with Project Veritas founder and fellow right-wing instigator James O’Keefe.
She gained notoriety in June 2017 when she disrupted a Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar in New York City, and again by interrupting Mr. Dorsey’s appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Sept. 2018.
Ms. Loomer was suspended from Twitter last week after posting a tweet criticizing Ms. Omar, a Somali immigrant elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, that accused the incoming congresswoman of being anti-Semitic and supporting Sharia law and female genital mutilation. She subsequently threatened to file a lawsuit against Twitter, calling the company’s conduct “egregious” and a “tipping point” toward litigation.
Ms. Loomer had more than 260,000 followers on Twitter before being suspended from the platform last week.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.