Daily Wire host Michael Knowles was suspended from Twitter after he posted a Bible verse in response to the Monday shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.
Knowles appears to have been impacted by a widespread Twitter crackdown against conservative accounts criticizing or simply alluding to the Trans Radical Activist Network’s recent call for a “Day of Vengeance” on Saturday, April 1, mere days after the attack in Nashville. Trans Radical Activist Network meanwhile retains access to its account on the platform.
Knowles linked on Twitter to a Daily Wire article about the “Day of Vengeance” and included a reference to Romans 12:19, in which the apostle Paul exhorts Christians to refrain from taking personal vengeance: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”
Twitter’s reprimand against the post, a screenshot of which was shared on Tuesday evening by fellow Daily Wire host Matt Walsh, told Knowles to delete the post and said that the platform does not permit users to “share abusive content, harass someone, or encourage other people to do so.” Knowles was provided with a button through which he could delete the post.
Walsh tagged Elon Musk, the new owner and chief executive of Twitter, and noted that Knowles was “suspended for posting a Bible verse.”
Attn: @elonmusk, Michael Knowles was suspended for posting a Bible verse. I assume this was a mistake. Can we get his account restored asap? pic.twitter.com/xmv1pvwQLy
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 29, 2023
Twitter accounts belonging to Daily Wire News, Federalist CEO Sean Davis, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have all been suspended from the platform in recent days for what appear to be similar mentions of the “Day of Vengeance.” Twitter shared the same reprimand received by Knowles with Daily Wire News.
Police confirmed that a 28-year-old woman who identified as transgender killed three 9-year-old children and three adults on Monday at The Covenant School, which is associated with the conservative evangelical Covenant Presbyterian Church. Authorities revealed that the shooter, who will not be named in accordance with Daily Wire policy, executed a “targeted attack” and left behind a “manifesto.”
The action against Knowles and the other accounts comes shortly after Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak was likewise suspended from Twitter after he posted a link to his original story about the “Day of Vengeance.” Rosiak was also the author of the subsequent article that Knowles shared.
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Rosiak, who said he has been on Twitter for 13 years but has “never had a single strike,” received the same warning about the platform not allowing users to “share abusive content, harass someone, or encourage other people to do so.” He was told that he must delete the original post to regain access to his account and appealed the decision.
“The activists, which describe their ‘Day of Vengeance’ alongside references to Molotov cocktails and specifically mentioned Tennessee, advertised this event on Twitter itself, and their accounts have not been banned,” Rosiak told The Daily Wire on Tuesday in reaction to his suspension. “Are trans activists mass-reporting factual tweets to prevent the public from learning about their actions, and does Elon Musk’s system allow organized groups of leftists to game it that way?”
Musk assumed control of Twitter last year in a professed bid to restore free speech to the platform. On the other hand, he has indicated a willingness to censor what he deems to be extreme content posted by those he considers far-Right and far-Left.
Knowles, a popular author, commentator, and podcast host, and Rosiak, who broke the bombshell story about school officials in Loudoun County, Virginia, attempting to conceal a sexual assault in a women’s bathroom perpetrated by a boy allegedly wearing a skirt, are indeed two of several conservatives to be suspended from Twitter under the company’s new management. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) each briefly lost access to their account in recent weeks.