Fox and Friends host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth reported he received a Twitter ban on Saturday for sharing the purported manifesto of the Saudi national suspected in the shooting and killing of three people and wounding 12 at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.
Hegseth posted screenshots to Instagram on Sunday, showing his previous deleted tweet as well as pictures of his Twitter appeal process. The since-deleted images showing the “manifesto” reportedly showed anti-Israel comments and a quote by the deceased al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden posted by a Saudi Arabian military student, Mohammed Alshamrani, prior to the Friday shooting attack.
Hegseth’s account remains locked until he deletes the tweet, American Military News confirmed on Monday.
“The coward posted it just hours before his terrorist attack. This is Islamist terror. No reason to ever mince words. Saudi Arabia must be held to account,” Hegseth said in his now-deleted tweet.
In pictures of his appeal comments to Twitter, Hegseth said the ban was “[because] I shared the words– and motivation– of an Islamist terrorist. What are you afraid of?”
Hegseth’s Twitter account is still visible, but posts stop after Saturday, Dec. 7. He said he is awaiting a Twitter response and “I’m sure @twitter will heed my ‘appeal’ . . .#banned.”
Donald Trump Jr commented on Hegseth’s second of three posts detailing the Twitter incident, calling the news “unbelievable.”
According to the Daily Mail, Twitter has not responded to requests for comment on the apparent ban.
The authenticity of the account that originally shared the manifesto has not been confirmed by investigating law enforcement officials, the New York Times reported.
The FBI, which is investigating the Friday shooting attack, is reportedly treating the shooting as a terror attack but Special Agent in Charge Rachel Rojas said investigators have not yet determined Alshamrani’s motive.
She did reveal Alshamrani visited New York City, just days before the attack. The Saudi pilot, who was in a foreign military training program on the U.S. Navy base, reportedly hosted a viewing party for mass shooting footage prior to the attack, and another Saudi trainee reportedly took video recordings of the Friday shooting.
