- The Washington Times - Saturday, January 9, 2021

L. Lin Wood, a pro-Trump lawyer newly kicked off Twitter, had some of his posts yanked afterward from rival social media service Parler, a supposed free speech haven popular among fellow conservatives.

John Matze, Parler’s CEO, confirmed Saturday that his company took down a number of posts made on its platform recently by the lawyer’s account, @LinWood, Mediaite first reported.

In one post, or “parley”, Mr. Wood called for the execution of Vice President Mike Pence. “Get the firing squads ready. Pence goes FIRST,” Mr. Wood said Thursday. That post has since vanished.

“Yes, some of his parleys that violated our rules were taken down,” said Mr. Matze, including specifically the post about “firing squads,” Mediaite reported.

Mr. Matze added the parley violated Parler rules, Mediaite reported, which prohibits users from posting messages containing “explicit or implicit encouragement to use violence.”

Prior to that post being pulled from Parler, Mr. Wood had made a similar remark about Mr. Pence on Twitter among a slew of similarly profane messages that preceded his permanent suspension Thursday.

“He will face execution by firing squad,” Mr. Wood said on Twitter about the vice president earlier this month. “He is a coward & will sing like a bird & confess ALL,” he tweeted.

Mr. Wood, who has unsuccessfully pursued several lawsuits challenging Mr. Trump’s recent defeat to President-elect Joseph R. Biden, had been hoping Mr. Pence would intervene and reverse the outcome.

Congress was scheduled to meet Wednesday to count the electoral votes affirming Mr. Biden’s win, and Mr. Wood said before hand that Republicans should be arrested for treason if they let it happen.

Mr. Wood, 68, subsequently took to Twitter on Wednesday to cheer on fellow Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol during the unprecedented insurrection that resulted in the deaths of five people

Twitter said the next day it banned Mr. Wood for violating the company’s rules but did not specify further. The company has since booted several other accounts belonging to prominent Republicans, including most notably Mr. Trump, among others, creating a prime opportunity for Parler — which has claimed it will not prohibit hate speech — to pull in new users angered by its rival’s decision.

Parler, Mr. Wood and Mr. Matze did not immediately respond to messages requesting comment.

“I am unaware of any actions by Parler to take down my posts,” Mr. Wood told Mediaite, according to the website. “If such action occurred, I received no notification of it. My post about Pence was rhetorical hyperbole conveying my opinion that his actions on the Electoral College vote were treasonous to We The People.”

• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.

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