Vox Suspends Editor For Encouraging Protesters To Riot At Trump Rallies

Police form a line to contain protesters outside a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday, June 2, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. A group of protesters attacked Trump supporters wh... Police form a line to contain protesters outside a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday, June 2, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. A group of protesters attacked Trump supporters who were leaving the presidential candidate's rally in San Jose on Thursday night. A dozen or more people were punched, at least one person was pelted with an egg and Trump hats grabbed from supporters were set on fire on the ground. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) MORE LESS
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A deputy editor at Vox was suspended Friday after firing off a late night tweetstorm advising Donald Trump’s detractors to riot if the presumptive GOP nominee visits their cities.

Editor-in-Chief Ezra Klein published a short statement announcing that Emmett Rensin, deputy editor of Vox’s first person section, encouraged “dangerous” activity with his tweets and was suspended as a result.

“We at Vox do not take institutional positions on most questions, and we encourage our writers to debate and disagree,” Klein wrote. “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.”

The statement did not mention the length of the suspension.

Rensin’s dozens of tweets came after the violence that broke out outside a Trump rally in San Jose, California, on Thursday night. He argued that getting into physical altercations with and throwing food at Trump supporters leaving the event were fair responses to a candidate who has repeatedly been labeled a “fascist” and “existential threat” in the press.

Rensin advised other Trump opponents to carry out similar acts of civil disobedience if he holds rallies or speeches in their hometowns.

“Advice: If Trump comes to your town, start a riot,” Rensin wrote in one tweet.

“Again: You cannot tell people over and over that somebody is an existential threat to them and then be appalled when they act like it,” he wrote in another.

Rensin continued tweeting about the violence into Friday morning, sending his last post as recently as noon. All of the tweets remained live on his account as of Friday afternoon.

Read a selection of them below.

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Notable Replies

  1. What a little prick. Lenin with a latte.

    One complaint about the story itself, however:

    “Rensin advised other Trump opponents to carry out similar acts of civil disobedience if he holds rallies or speeches in their hometowns.”

    Riots are not ‘civil disobedience’, period. I don’t see the phrase in Rensin’s tweets, so assume it must be TPM’s usage. This is so wrong it hurts. I understand that these are going to be an emotional, painful six months: all the more reason for exercising care in our words and deeds.

  2. Avatar for mymy mymy says:

    Very sensible of Ezra. This is NOT something one wants to encourage. And remember Trump’s supporters are often armed to the teeth.

    Dignified civil disobedience is something entirely different.

  3. It would be gobsmackingly refreshing if Trump showed the same class with his supporters as Vox showed with this wannabe reporter. But I have no illusions of that happening. After all, I’m still waiting for my rainbow colored unicorn.

  4. Avatar for tomj tomj says:

    .They hate Trump, sure, but they hate him as part of a generalized threat to the Civil Gentry of Elites.

    If I may: WTF? and LOL!

  5. Make up your damned minds people. Is Trump a dangerous fascist or not?

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