- Laura Loomer handcuffed herself to the entrance of Twitter’s New York City headquarters on Thursday.
- Loomer is protesting the platform’s decision to kick her off the platform for violating its rules on “hateful conduct.”
- In addition to being banned on Twitter, Loomer has been temporarily banned on Facebook and was banned from Uber and Lyft last year for comments she has made about Muslims.
In response to getting kicked off Twitter, far-right activist Laura Loomer chained herself to the platform’s Manhattan headquarters on Thursday.
Livestream video posted to Periscope captured Loomer handcuffed to the glass doors leading into the headquarters. It didn’t take long before a crowd and police gathered and the street was closed off.
At its peak, the Periscope livestream had almost 10,000 viewers.
"It's almost as if Twitter hates Jews and conservatives," Loomer said during her protest. "When is [Twitter CEO] Jack Dorsey going to stop censoring conservatives? When am I going to get my Twitter back? I'll be here as long as it takes."
Loomer ended her stand shortly after 6 p.m., when she asked police to cut off her handcuffs after a little more than two hours of protest.
Laura Loomer ended her Twitter protest, got cut out of the handcuffs. But she did not get her Twitter account back. pic.twitter.com/VNKO1uIxJK
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) November 29, 2018
Twitter permanently banned Loomer from the platform in November after a tweet she sent about Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. In a post on her website, Loomer published a screenshot of the message Twitter sent her saying she had violated the platform's rules on "hateful conduct."
Loomer tweeted that Omar, one of first two Muslim women elected to Congress, was "anti Jewish" and that her religion pushed homophobia and abuse of women.
Facebook followed suit, but has only issued a temporary, 30-day ban.
This isn't the first time Loomer has tried to capture Dorsey's attention. When Dorsey testified in front of Congress in September, she interrupted the hearing to call the CEO a "liar."
"We have notified the relevant authorities who are responding," Twitter said in a statement to Business Insider. "The account holder was suspended for violating our policies. We apply the Twitter Rules impartially and not based on ideology."
Loomer's behavior has also led to similar bans in the past. In late 2017, Uber and Lyft both kicked her off their ride-hailing platforms for a series of tweets Loomer posted about Muslim drivers.
"I'm late to the NYPD press conference because I couldn't find a non Muslim cab or @Uber @lyft driver for over 30 min! This is insanity," Loomer wrote.
Read more: Uber and Lyft bar far-right activist who complained about Muslim Uber drivers
Loomer has also accused Twitter of holding up a "double standard" that allows anyone on the platform who is liberal or Muslim to do "whatever they want." During her protest, Loomer wore a yellow Star of David reminiscent of the badges Jewish people were forced to wear during the Holocaust as a symbol of what she said is rampant anti-Semitism on Twitter.
During the protest, police informed Loomer that Twitter said it wouldn't press charges against her for chaining herself to its headquarters and that she was allowed to stay chained to the door as long as she wanted. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, protesters cannot block the entrance into a building under New York City law.
Loomer said she didn't have a key to unlock her handcuffs and the chains would need to be cut off. Police officers offered early on to cut the chain off for her if she wanted.
"I wish I could give you an answer, but Facebook and Twitter won't let me speak," Loomer said on the livestream.
Check out the livestream below:
https://twitter.com/DrJaneRuby/status/1068244147272859648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw