Vox suspends editor for encouraging anti-Trump riots on Twitter
Vox has suspended editor Emmett Rensin for a series of tweets encouraging people to riot if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came to their town.
Advice: If Trump comes to your town, start a riot.
— Emmett Rensin (@emmettrensin) June 3, 2016
Rensin is deputy editor of Vox’s first person section, which publishes opinion pieces. His series of tweets came as violence broke out outside a Trump rally in San Jose, Calif. on Thursday evening.
Listen, if Trump is Hitler then you've got no business condemning rioters. If he isn't, you've got no business pretending normal is better.
— Emmett Rensin (@emmettrensin) June 3, 2016
“We at Vox do not take institutional positions on most questions, and we encourage our writers to debate and disagree,” Vox editor-in-chief Ezra Klein said in a statement. “But direct encouragement of riots crosses a line between expressing a contrary opinion and directly encouraging dangerous, illegal activity. We welcome a variety of viewpoints, but we do not condone writing that could put others in danger.”
Vox did not name the conditions of the suspension, and Rensin’s tweets remained live as of Friday evening.
And listen: I do tend to agree Trump is atypically threatening. That's why I'm not going to condemn rioters.
— Emmett Rensin (@emmettrensin) June 3, 2016
It's remarkable how many people deeply concerned about people protesting Trump would also like me to know they personally plan to murder me.
— Emmett Rensin (@emmettrensin) June 3, 2016
This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Vox suspends editor for encouraging anti-Trump riots on Twitter."