Twitter Locks Trump Ally David Clarke’s Account Over ‘Taste Their Blood’ Media Threat

Dominique Mosbergen
Updated
David Clarke, the Trump-supporting former Milwaukee County sheriff, was temporarily barred from posting on Twitter this week after complaints about tweets encouraging violence against the media.

David Clarke, the Trump-supporting former Milwaukee County sheriff, was temporarily barred from posting on Twitter this week after complaints about tweets encouraging violence against the media.

Clarke’s Twitter account was locked and placed in “read-only mode” after other Twitter users complained about three tweets promoting violence, CNN reported Tuesday. Twitter reinstated the account after those tweets were deleted, according to BuzzFeed News. Clarke’s account, with the tweets removed, resumed tweeting on Tuesday.

Clarke, a vociferous supporter of President Donald Trump who resigned as Milwaukee sheriff in August, wrote in one tweet about making the media “taste their own blood.”

“When LYING LIB MEDIA makes up FAKE NEWS to smear me, the ANTIDOTE is to go right at them. Punch them in the nose,” Clarke wrote, sharing an image of two wrestlers, with his face and Trump’s face superimposed on them, attacking another wrestler labeled “CNN.”

That tweet has since been deleted, as has this follow-up tweet in which Clarke boasted about “winning against lying lib media and whiny snowflakes.”

“Diaper wearing lefty didn’t like my metaphor reference to punching LYING LIB MEDIA in the nose. Twitter said no violation. Duh,” Clarke wrote.

A person on Twitter who had lodged a complaint against Clarke told CNN that Twitter replied by saying Clarke’s account had been locked temporarily because it had “violated” the company’s rules, which explicitly bars “specific threats of violence.”

Twitter confirmed the authenticity of the email, but didn’t elaborate on Clarke’s tweeting ban, which was enforced after several other reported complaints in recent days.

Clarke said on Sunday that “two UNFOUNDED Twitter complaints” had been made against him. On Saturday, he boasted that a “snowflake lib” had flagged one of his posts, but Twitter had contacted him to say that the tweet didn’t violate any rules.

“I know I’m winning,” Clarke wrote at the time.

As of Tuesday, Clarke, who as sheriff faced repeated allegations that inmates in his jails were mistreated, was back on Twitter and actively tweeting.

Clarke declared that he would not be “intimidated into silence.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.