BuzzFeed News deleted a tweet that received backlash for saying that a man who pleaded guilty to vandalizing a synagogue was inspired, in part, by reading Jewish commentator Ben Shapiro.
The original tweet, which received thousands of retweets and likes, said: “A man who vandalized a synagogue with Nazi symbols told federal agents his road to radicalization included meeting with the far-right group Identity Evropa and reading Ben Shapiro, Breitbart News, and the Nazi propaganda site Stormfront.”
BuzzFeed News issued a corrected tweet Monday, clarifying that it was not the suspect, 21 year-old Nolan Brewer, who read Shapiro and Breitbart, but rather his wife, an accused co-conspirator in the crime.
Brewer’s lawyers blame Kiyomi Brewer, who was 17 at the time, for radicalizing her husband after she had “moved on to writing by Ben Shapiro and articles on Breitbart News which bridged the gap to the notorious white supremacist and anti-Semititc propaganda site Stormfront.”
We have deleted this tweet because it was inaccurate: the man told prosecutors his road to radicalization included his wife reading Ben Shapiro, Breitbart News, and the Nazi propaganda site Stormfront. pic.twitter.com/MOQdVMHffn
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 27, 2019
Prior to the original tweet being deleted, many questioned the premise of a Nazi being motivated to carry out a hate crime against Jewish people by reading a Jewish commentator’s work:
Yes that sounds right, Jewish @benshapiro influenced a random person to become a neo-Nazi and vandalize a Synagogue. We totally believe you. Totally. https://t.co/jEQlPRwgz4
— Imam Mohamad Tawhidi (@Imamofpeace) May 27, 2019
Imho if reading @benshapiro turns you into a Nazi, I think you’re reading Ben Shapiro wrong. https://t.co/TJDBtXV3vj
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) May 26, 2019
A reminder that a white supremacist neo-Nazi trying to get a lesser sentence might lie about how he was radicalized, as white supremacist neo-Nazis are prone to do. https://t.co/HHsd9ovIzc
— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) May 26, 2019
[Also read: Ben Shapiro calls ‘disgusting bullshit’ on Washington Post writer over Notre Dame fire piece]
