Pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood suspended from Twitter as platforms remove president’s posts after ‘insurrection’

Platform says conspiracy theorist violated rules during day of riots targeting the Capitol

Twitter has indefinitely suspended Lin Wood, a controversial conspiracy theorist and lawyer who has expressed support for the violent riots that attacked the Capitol building in support of President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

The lawyer’s account showed a blank page on Thursday afternoon and said Mr Wood had been suspended.

A spokesperson for the social media platform said his account violated its rules but declined to provide specific information regarding the suspension, including whether or not the ban was permanent.

Mr Wood quickly took his grievances to Parler, the platform popular with right-wing extremists who staged what many described as an attempted “insurrection” in Washington the day prior, where he attacked Vice President for failing to intervene in the congressional certification of the 2020 election.

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He appeared to share the same sentiments as the president, according to several reports, which painted a picture of a furious Mr Trump fuming in the White House after Vice President Mike Pence declined to intervene in the certification procedures on Wednesday.

Instead, Mr Pence performed the mostly symbolic role of presiding over the typically-mundane procedure, which ratified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory albeit after a six hour delay caused by the rioting.

Mr Pence had a “very special place in Hell” waiting for him, Mr Wood said on the Parler platform, describing the vice president as a “dark soul” in one post.

Mr Wood was defeated several times over in the courts after challenging the electoral process on behalf of the president and his campaign, which hoped to overturn the results of the election despite a clear loss to the Democratic Party.

The president released a video that was removed from both Twitter and Facebook containing falsities about a rigged election as rioters stormed the Capitol.

Police said at least four people died during the riots in the Capitol building, which had not been previously breached in over 200 years. At least 14 police officers were injured in the attacks.

Shortly after removing the video and restricting the president’s accounts, Facebook announced an indefinite ban for Mr Trump’s page, saying it would last at least until an orderly transition of power could be conducted.

As calls for Mr Trump to be banned from the social media platforms grew, so did demands he be impeached or removed from office for his conduct during the riots, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announcing his support on Thursday for the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment.