Ex-Twitter employee: Trump supporters ‘ready, willing and able to take up arms’ on Jan. 6
left five dead and led to more than 700 arrests as well as Trump’s role.Jan. 6 rioter blames his participation on Trump, false claims of election fraud: Day 7 recap
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The former staffer worked on Twitter’s platform and content moderation policies between 2020 and 2021. Their voice was obscured to protect their identity, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, (D-Md).
During the hearing, committee member Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla. said there were “serious concerns” at Twitter about the possibility of anticipated violence. She then played the audio testimony of the former Twitter worker detailing colleagues’ frustration.
The ex-employee said Twitter staffers were on “pins and needles.”
“I believe I sent a Slack message to someone that said something along the lines of, ‘When people are shooting each other tomorrow, I will try and rest in the knowledge that we tried,'” the ex-Twitter employee testified.
far-right extremist group the Proud Boys, to “stand back and stand by” during a heated presidential debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Sept. 29, 2020.
The employee was worried “for seemingly the first time, (Trump) was speaking directly to extremist organizations and giving them directives. We had not seen that sort of direct communication before, and that concerned me.”
The employee also said that Twitter didn’t ban Trump despite what he said. Previously, Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey had said numerous times that having Turmp’s at-times controversial and dangerous rhetoric via a direct line on the platform is “interesting and fascinating,” as well as “complicated.”
banned from Twitter two days after the deadly riot due to “the risk of further incitement of violence. The decision still remains hotly debated as a presumed Twitter buyer, billionaire Elon Musk, said in May that he would let Trump back on Twitter.
However, on Tuesday, three days after being ripped by Trump at a campaign rally in Alaska, Musk tweeted that “it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat sail into the sunset.”