Portland Conservative Talk-Radio Host Lars Larson Got 12-Hour Twitter Ban For Tweet About Recent Police Shooting

Twitter booted conservative talk-radio host Lars Larson from the platform on Jan. 10 after he tweeted about a man who was fatally shot by Portland Police on Jan. 6.

Larson was replying to 2016 Portland mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone in a comment she made condemning the shooting of 36-year-old Andre Catrel Gladen.

Iannarone tweeted a report by The Oregonian, which says a Southeast Portland tenant and his landlord called police after Gladen—who suffered from schizophrenia and was legally blind—refused to leave a doorstep.

Police say Gladen entered the home when they arrived, and an officer shot and killed him. A witness alleges Gladen pulled a knife.

"We know the police kill," Iannarone wrote. "[The] question is whether we will ever stop funding this deadly paramilitary force and start funding things that actually keep the people of Portland safe."

Larson, in reply, wrote, "Gee @sarahforpdx you think the cops make PDX dangerous? Read the story and you find the dead man was 1) paranoid schizophrenic 2) invaded a stranger's home 3) fought with the officer 4) pulled a knife. What's your millennial snowflake solution to that situation without the cops?"

The tweet—which was flagged as "hateful content"—got Larson banned for 12 hours.

Iannarone says that the reply "may not seem like much on the surface." But, she says, "Whenever that account retweets me, it brings commenters into my sphere who hurl insult and innuendo my direction. I reported three other accounts resulting from the retweet that day that Twitter admins agreed were abusive or harmful."

Larson says the ban is a first for him, and that he wanted to "take @sarahforportland to task for criticizing the cops for shooting a man."

According to Twitter's enforcement guidelines, repeated violations by the @LarsLarsonShow account are likely what led to it being banned.

"We take action at the account level if we determine that a person has violated the Twitter Rules in a particularly egregious way, or has repeatedly violated them even after receiving notifications from us," the guidelines read.

Iannarone says she stands by her decision to report the account. "Right-wing Twitter is a platform predicated on inaccurate, misleading, and hateful speech," she says, "right up to the highest levels of government with our Tweeter-in-chief."

She's also sponsored an online petition in support of self-governed camps for homeless people and increased funding for mental health and addiction services.

Related: A Plan for a New Security Force in the Central Eastside Reveals Fresh Conflicts on the Streets