Calls for Trump’s Twitter to be suspended after violence erupts at U.S. capitol

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Twitter users are calling for the suspension of U.S. President Donald Trump’s account on the social media site following claims that he incited the ongoing violence that is currently rocking Washington.

Protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol building during the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election win on Wednesday in a situation that is ongoing, with windows smashed and reports emerging that guns have been drawn within the House.

Politicians and reporters have fled to safer parts of the building and the mayor has imposed a 6:00 p.m. ET curfew for the entire D.C. area.

1:05U.S. election: ‘We will never give up, we will never concede’ Trump tells protesters

U.S. election: ‘We will never give up, we will never concede’ Trump tells protesters

As the violence raged on, Trump published a video on Twitter in which he told protestors to “go home” while he decried what he baselessly referred to as a “fraudulent election.”

“I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election. And everyone knows it, especially the other side, but you have to go home now. We have to have peace,” Trump said in the video.

“So go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel, but go home and go home in peace.”

Twitter has also made it so that users cannot engage with the tweet featuring that video.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump was tweeting information discrediting the U.S. election result, issuing unsubstantiated claims that the election was “rigged.”

“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” tweeted Trump.

“USA demands the truth!”

Twitter has made it so that users cannot reply to, retweet or like Trump’s tweet “due to a risk of violence.”

Trump also tweeted in December about the Wednesday rally that led to the violence, telling his reporters to “be there” and that it “will be wild.”

Speaking at the Wednesday rally, Trump said he would “never concede” the election and goaded the crowd to march on the Capitol, where hordes of protesters were already gathered.

“We will never give up,” Trump told the lunchtime rally.

1:43U.S. election: ‘I hope Mike is going to do the right thing’ says Trump as VP Pence scheduled to count electoral votes

U.S. election: ‘I hope Mike is going to do the right thing’ says Trump as VP Pence scheduled to count electoral votes

While he tweeted a request for everyone in the Capitol to “remain peaceful,” the violence raged on — prompting calls for his account to be suspended.

“And Twitter needs to suspend Trump’s account. How is he allowed to keep fomenting this sedition?” wrote twitter user Roxane Gay.

Another user wrote that Trump should be “arrested” in addition to the suspension.

One user added that if Twitter doesn’t suspend Trump’s account, then they will also be partially responsible for the ongoing violence.

The social media company’s safety team also tweeted out a statement on Wednesday, saying they are “working proactively to protect the health of the public conversation occurring on the service and will take action on any content that violates the Twitter Rules.”

“Threats of and calls to violence are against the Twitter Rules, and we are enforcing our policies accordingly. In addition, we have been significantly restricting engagement with Tweets labeled under our Civic Integrity Policy due to the risk of violence. This means these labeled Tweets will not be able to be replied to, Retweeted, or liked,” the statement read.

“We are also exploring other escalated enforcement actions and will keep the public updated with any significant developments.”