Nicholas J. Fuentes, a far-right activist known for leading the so-called “Groyper” movement, has been banned from Twitter for the social media company’s repeated violations of its rules. A spokesperson for Twitter confirmed Saturday that it permanently suspended the @NickJFuentes account from its platform. Twitter prohibits owners of permanently suspended accounts from making new ones. Mr. Fuentes, 22, was a verified Twitter user before being punted Friday, meaning his profile and posts on the platform bore a blue checkmark badge reserved for only certain accounts of public interest. Close to 139,000 other Twitter accounts followed the Fuentes profile at the time of its suspension.
Posting on rival platform Telegram, Mr. Fuentes alleged there was a connection between his Twitter suspension and a report published the previous day by the Anti-Defamation League civil rights group. “Nicholas Fuentes is a white supremacist leader and organizer and podcaster who seeks to forge a white nationalist alternative to the mainstream GOP,” the ADL proclaimed in the Thursday report. “The ADL published a report on me, and then I was permanently suspended hours later. That’s what happened,” Mr. Fuentes said on Telegram the following day. The ADL had no immediate public response. Mr. Fuentes attended the infamous “Unite the Right” rally in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was more recently outside the U.S. Capitol when rioters breached it on Jan. 6, the ADL report noted.
The Department of Justice has charged over 500 people with crimes related to the Capitol riot. Mr. Fuentes is not among them, but his name has nonetheless appeared in a related court filing. A footnote to an affidavit filed in federal court in February against one of the riot suspects, Christian Secor, referenced Mr. Fuentes and his far-right Groyper movement and the podcast he hosts. “The Groypers is a network of alt-right figures who are vocal supporters of white supremacist and ‘America First’ podcaster Nick Fuentes,” an FBI agent said in the affidavit. YouTube banned the “America First with Nick Fuentes” podcast from its service in early 2020. The Google-owned platform cited “multiple or severe violations” of its policy against hate speech. Later, in December, Mr. Fuentes was caught on camera leading chants of “Destroy the GOP!” among a crowd of fellow supporters of then-President Trump protesting in downtown Washington, D.C. Mr. Secor, a college student when the riot occurred on Jan. 6, faces ten counts, including civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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