Facebook on Wednesday removed accounts of a teenager accused of a deadly shooting spree during protests in the US city of Kenosha, along with pages of a local militia.
The 17-year-old was arrested on murder charges after two people were shot dead and a third wounded during anti-police protests in the Wisconsin city Tuesday night.
Shooting designated mass murder
“We’ve designated this shooting as mass murder and have removed the shooter’s accounts from Facebook and Instagram,” the internet titan said in response to an AFP inquiry.
Read more: Trump orders surge of US feds: protesters and police clash once again
Facebook added that it also removed a Kenosha Guard page and an event page posted by the militia group for violating a recently instituted ban on groups that celebrate violent acts or suggest people seek armed conflict.
“At this time, we have not found evidence on Facebook that suggests the shooter followed the Kenosha Guard Page or that he was invited on the Event Page they organized,” the social network said.
Facebook removed accounts of a teenager accused of a deadly shooting spree during protests in the US city of Kenosha, along with pages of a local militia. https://t.co/0bvTsLoP5Q
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) August 27, 2020
“However, the Kenosha Guard Page and their Event Page violated our new policy addressing militia organizations and have been removed on that basis.”
Facebook planned to remove any content supporting or praising the violence or those behind it.
The tech firm is also blocking accounts from being created in the accused killer’s name.
Outrage erupted after Kenosha police shot African American Jacob Blake in his back point-blank multiple times in the Midwestern city last Sunday.
Read more: Fresh steps taken by Twitter, Facebook to contain US election manipulation
Protesters have demonstrated every night since, with the rallies descending into violence later at night.
One organizer of the march, who goes by Cino, was shot in the abdomen and was hospitalized overnight, said Cabal, who has spent the night in the facility’s parking lot.
“My brain is broken. My energy is broken,” said Cabal, who was standing near Cino when the shots were fired.
Videos taken overnight Tuesday show a vigilante shooting at protesters with an assault rifle and apparently hitting two who tried to stop him.
The man then walks down the street freely, gun slung across his chest, while protesters scatter and police vehicles drive past him.
before the Kenosha shooting, Facebook moderators ruled the Kenosha Guard FB page and an event where the militia asked people to "take up arms and defend" against protesters didn't violate its policies https://t.co/vayHut2RYA
— catturd2.bsky.social (@thetomzone) August 27, 2020
Police in Antioch, Illinois, about 20 miles (32 kilometres) southwest of Kenosha later announced that they arrested a 17-year-old wanted in Kenosha for murder.
Facebook last week said it had removed hundreds of groups tied to the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory and imposed restrictions on nearly 2,000 more as part of a crackdown on stoking violence.
Move made by Facebook and Instagram
The moves, which were made across both Facebook and Instagram, were against accounts tied to “offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests, US-based militia organizations and QAnon,” the social media platform said in a blog post.
Read more: Twitter dismantles 7000 accounts linked to pro-Trump movement
The platform has seen growth in movements that celebrate violence or weapons and hint at using them but stop short of directly organizing any action, Facebook said.
Cabal, who is from Kenosha, Wisconsin — where police shot Jacob Blake was shot at least seven times in back Sunday — joined Cino and other activists as they follow Milwaukee activist Frank Nitty on a 730-mile march to Washington, DC to bring awareness to racial injustice.
“All of a sudden, we see this older white man come hurling out of the bushes, and he’s firing at us,” Cabal told Insider. “I was crouching behind my car door.”
Cabal said at that point, Cino tried to talk to the man telling him to go back in the house and demonstrators made their way back to their cars. The man was yelling back.
The Pennsylvania State Police’s ‘Heritage Affairs Section’ will be assisting with the investigation. That group is a “specialized unit dedicated to building relationships with historically underserved communities,” the statement said.
Nitty and the group of around 50 people are scheduled to arrive in the city on August 27, a day before the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Will Indian voters still vote for Trump?
Historically the South-Asian diaspora has been predominantly democratic in political orientation. With the recent warming of ties between Modi and Trump, this trend seems to be shifting.
America is Not a racist country. pic.twitter.com/mYe0wW6QBa
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) August 25, 2020
Indian voters are voting republican increasingly, although the majority still votes democratic. However, with the advent of right-wing rhetoric in the party, many have become disoriented and Trump is likely to lose these swing votes.
With the South-Asian population in the USA on the rise, the South-Asian vote is gaining importance and both the democratic party and republicans have made efforts to secure this vote.
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk