Twitter suspends radio host for reply to 'snowflake'

Lars Larson (LarsLarson.com)

Twitter suspended a conservative talk-radio host for his reply to a former local mayoral candidate who advocated defunding the police department after a fatal shooting.

Lars Larson, who hosts a local and national show from Portland, Oregon, was removed from Twitter Jan. 10 after replying to 2016 Portland mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone's condemnation of the Jan. 6 police shooting of 36-year-old Andre Catrel Gladen, Willamette Week reported.

Iannarone -- whose Twitter handle is M. Snowflake Iannarone -- tweeted a report by The Oregonian daily of Portland that noted Gladen suffered from schizophrenia and was legally blind. A witness, however, alleges Gladen pulled a knife after entering a home.

"We know the police kill," Iannarone wrote. "[The] question is whether we will ever stop funding this deadly paramilitary force and start funding things that actually keep the people of Portland safe."

Larson replied in a tweet: "Gee @sarahforpdx you think the cops make PDX dangerous? Read the story and you find the dead man was 1) paranoid schizophrenic 2) invaded a stranger's home 3) fought with the officer 4) pulled a knife. What's your millennial snowflake solution to that situation without the cops?"

Twitter flagged Larson's comment as "hateful content" and suspended him for 12 hours.

Larson tweeted regarding the ban: "Just back from my 12 hr twitter ban. just so u know @Twitter suspended me for replying to an activist @sarahforpdx who lashed out @PPBPIO for shooting a man. I merely pointed out politely that the man invaded a stranger's home, fought a cop, pulled a knife and posed a threat."

Willamette Week said that according to Twitter's enforcement guidelines, repeated violations by Larson's radio-show account are likely what led to it being banned.

"We take action at the account level if we determine that a person has violated the Twitter Rules in a particularly egregious way, or has repeatedly violated them even after receiving notifications from us," the guidelines read.

Iannarone said, according to Willamette Week, that she reported Larson's account and stands by her decision.

"Right-wing Twitter is a platform predicated on inaccurate, misleading, and hateful speech," she said, "right up to the highest levels of government with our Tweeter-in-chief."

The headline kinda says it all, doesn't it? We know the police kill. Question is whether we will ever stop funding this deadly paramilitary force and start funding things that actually keep the people of Portland safe. https://t.co/XbjMtq9qW6

— M. Sn❄️wflake Iannarone (@sarahforpdx) January 9, 2019