On November 23, 2022 self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk tweeted out a Twitter poll asking if he should provide a general amnesty to accounts banned under the previous corporate regime. The poll came back overwhelmingly in the affirmative with 73% of respondents answering “yes.” 

Musk appeared to concur responding “Vox populi, vox dei”: the voice of the people is the will of God. Musk followed through on his word—in part. For one, he brought back President Donald Trump and many other important right-wing accounts that had been unjustly banned. However, Musk did not provide a simple blanket amnesty. He preserved the permanent suspension of Alex Jones, for instance, and… me.  

I’m honored to be in such illustrious company but I confess: I am mystified. Unlike Jones, I don’t have an audience of tens of millions. I didn’t help swing a major American election. I am, by contrast, a humble American citizen and veteran outraged by the ideological perversion of our military and the culture at large.  

Twitter was, for the short few months I was allowed to use it, the chief vehicle for getting my message into the public consciousness and sharing my long form work. In the summer of 2021 I “went viral” when an Army General personally attacked me on Twitter for criticizing the military’s COVID policies. That resulted in an appearance on Fox News and a significant growth in my audience. From August to December of 2021, I gained on average 3,000 followers a month. By December I had 14,000 followers and was averaging 8 million hits a month. My message of accountability from America’s top military brass for their inability to win wars but incessant devotion to wokeness had found a ready audience.  

I make no apology for what I said and how I said it: I write with a sharp pen and rightfully so. The failures of our military class wasted American blood and treasure. It is good and just to speak truth to power and forcefully.  

But in December of 2021, I was permanently banned for the alleged sin of “platform manipulation and spam” after a tweet thread I wrote on tribalism within the Democratic Party went viral. The suspension, however, wasn’t tied to that series of tweets or to any tweet in particular. No specific reason for the ban was ever given. 

It was not my first suspension. I once made a post arguing that pedophiles should get the death penalty. That resulted in a week-long suspension.

I also said that Kyle Rittenhouse did nothing wrong—while his trial was taking place. Another week long suspension. After my account was restored—and the not-guilty verdict had been rendered—I posted the same tweet again. A jury said that Kyle did nothing wrong so it should be allowed to say as much on social media, no? 

Wrong.  

Twitter permanently suspended me for my tweet AFTER the trial stating the outcome. I fired back in a piece for the Federalist. I pointed out that the Twitter moderation team had effectively libeled Rittenhouse. Within 48 hours of the piece being published, my account was restored. It was a remarkable turn around but it didn’t last.  

Just weeks later I was permanently suspended a second time for “platform manipulation.” That suspension was never tied to any actual misconduct. I received a mere boiler plate email indicating that my account had been used in a “manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts people’s experience on Twitter.”