lin wood
Attorney Lin Wood speaks during a rally.
Associated Press/Ben Margot
  • Parler, the “free speech” social network, removed a post by Lin Wood, in which the pro-Trump lawyer made violent remarks about Vice President Mike Pence.
  • “Get the firing squads ready. Pence goes FIRST,” wrote Wood, according to Mediate. Wood claimed it was not a threat. 
  • The message, along with a few others, violated Parler’s terms of service, and was removed, CEO John Matze told Mediate on Saturday. 
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Parler, the “free speech” social network, reportedly removed a post by Lin Wood, in which the pro-Trump lawyer threatened violence against Vice President Mike Pence. 

“Get the firing squads ready. Pence goes FIRST,” wrote Wood, according to Mediate. 

The message, along with a few others, violated Parler’s terms of service, and was removed, CEO John Matze told Mediate on Saturday. 

Violent threats against Pence spread around the internet this week, after Pence distanced himself from President Donald Trump’s efforts to overthrow the election. In a January 6 letter, Pence said he would preside over the counting of Electoral College votes without intervening. 

Read more: Parler should be taken seriously as a hotbed of extremism and conspiracy theories, a new study shows

Trump attacked Pence for not having enough "courage" to overturn the results. Some of Trump's followers joined his attack. On Parler, some users posted with the hashtag #traitorpence, but there were plenty of others who posted in support of Pence, using hashtags like #istandwithvppence.

Parler
This illustration picture shows social media application logo from Parler displayed on a smartphone with its website in the background.
OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

Wood was not among Pence's supporters. The lawyer, who has faced calls to be disbarred in Michigan, last week had his Twitter account suspended for violent threats. Once he was removed from that network, his posting on Parler increased. 

Wood's posts were removed by midday Friday, according to Mediate.

On Saturday, Wood wrote: "I made NO threat. I do not believe in violence. I do believe in the rule of law... If my information is accurate, law enforcement will address what punishment, if any, should be administered to Pence as they do will all criminals."

Pelosi Pence
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Vice President Mike Pence talk as a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to count the Electoral College votes cast in November's election, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.
Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via AP

Parler reportedly removed several of Wood's posts. In another, Wood had claimed a woman killed during the Capitol riot was not actually dead. 

Both Apple and Google had asked Parler to take steps toward moderating speech on its network. Google banned the app from its Android Store on Friday. Apple followed suit with its own ban on Saturday. Amazon is reportedly removing the company from its Amazon Web Services.

"The censorship is approaching the levels achieved only in fascist, communist and socialist countries," Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, wrote on Parler on Sunday morning. 

Giuliani had called for a "trial by combat" before the riots. 

On Saturday, Brad Parscale, Trump's former campaign manager, urged Parler to file an anti-trust lawsuit against either Apple or Google. "Silencing this movement is illegal," Parscale wrote on Parler. 

Matze on Saturday accused Apple and Google of bias against his network, because similar anti-Pence posts had been trending on Twitter.

Read the original article on Business Insider