11/29/18
Far-right activist Laura Loomer handcuffed herself to Twitter's New York City headquarters for about two hours on Thursday afternoon to protest the company's banning her from the social media platform, then asked police to remove her. Loomer attached herself to the building's front door, blocking the entrance to the building in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood in a protest that was live-streamed on Periscope, which began at about 3:45 p.m. ET. Twitter closed the conservative firebrand's account a week ago after she posted a tweet criticizing Minnesota Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, and her Muslim faith, calling Omar "anti Jewish" and pro-Sharia law. At one point Thursday, Loomer yelled through the doors of Twitter's building, telling its employees that they worked for an "evil" company.
Twitter released a statement during her protest, saying, "We have notified the relevant authorities who are responding. The account holder was suspended for violating our policies. New York police officers at first asked Loomer to uncuff herself from the building's door citing a fire hazard, but she refused. Another officer told NBC News he had "no idea" who Loomer was. At about 6 p.m. ET, police, at Loomer's request, used a bolt cutter to cut through her handcuffs. She was not arrested. Twitter in recent months has banned from its platform some other far-right figures, such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for violating its terms of service.
