Pipe-bomb suspect threat alleged
Democrat says Twitter rebuffed complaint on hostile tweet
MIAMI — Two weeks before pipe bombs were mailed to at least 12 Democrats, Democratic strategist Rochelle Ritchie reported to Twitter that Cesar Sayoc had made a threat to her on the site.
She was rebuffed. On Friday afternoon — several hours after Sayoc was taken into custody as the pipe-bomb suspect at an AutoZone in Plantation,
Fla. — Ritchie posted the tweeting history of her
Oct. 11 backand-forth warning on Twitter over what she perceived to be a threat made by Sayoc.
“Hey Twitter remember when I reported the guy who was making threats towards me after my appearance on FoxNews and you guys sent back a bs response about how you didn’t find it that serious. Well guess what it’s the guy who has been sending #bombs to high profile politicians !!!! ” she posted.
Friday night, Twitter apologized.
“We made a mistake when Rochelle Ritchie first alerted us to the threat made against her. The Tweet clearly violated our rules and should have been removed. We are deeply sorry for that error,” said a post from TwitterSafety.
And a few minutes later: “We are investigating what happened and will continue to work to improve how we handle concerns raised by anyone on Twitter.
“We want Twitter to be a place where people feel safe, and we know we have lot of work to do.”
Ritchie had appeared on Oct. 10 with Dan Bongino, a podcaster and former Secret Service agent, on a segment of The Ingraham Angle to discuss the topic “Will Democratic leaders address violent rhetoric?” Host Laura Ingraham called Democrats “the worst bullies around” and challenged Ritchie over former Attorney General Eric Holder’s comment on Oct. 7: “When they go low, we kick them. That’s what this new Democratic Party is about.”
Ritchie argued that Holder meant “kick them out of the House and kick them out of the Senate.”
When Ingraham asked Ritchie how Democrats would respond “if something horrific happens because of the anger and the frenzy, both congresswomen, senators and others are either tacitly encouraging or actually encouraging with their words,” Ritchie replied that Heather Heyer, a counterprotester at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017, “already has been killed as a result of what’s coming from the right.”
The comment angered Bongino.
“What Rochelle just did is really gross and I want to call her out for that immediately,” Bongino said. “The Republicans, Donald Trump and conservatives have absolutely nothing to do with a deranged murdering maniac who runs a woman over in Charlottesville.”
Bongino ended the segment citing what he called “real cases of leftist violence” and saying, “I just wish the left would step up and say, ‘Hey, this is all wrong.’”
Sayoc apparently caught the Fox segment, because on Oct. 11 he tweeted under the Twitter name Cesar Altier hardrock2016: “So you like make threats. We unconquered Seminole Tribe will answer your threats. We have nice silent air boat ride for u here on our land Everglades Swamp. Hug your loved ones real close every time you leave home.”
Ritchie, director of external affairs for Democracy Prep Public Schools and a former House of Representatives press secretary, responded back via Twitter: “Threatening my life … bad idea.”
She then reported the post to Twitter. The company responded in a tweet to Ritchie that it had “found that there was no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behavior. There are a number of factors we take into consideration when deciding whether to take action on content.” Twitter cited “context matters.”
Sayoc used similar language in subsequent tweets directed at Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for governor.
Seminole Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner emphatically denied that Sayoc had ever been a member of the American Indian group. The Seminole Tribe operates casinos and entertainment venues throughout Florida, including the popular Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood that, among other events, hosts top-name pop concerts.