Who Is Matthew Heimbach? White Nationalist Banned From Twitter Says Suspension ‘A Mild Speed-Bump’ To Spread His Message

A white nationalist who was recently suspended from Twitter over his racist remarks said the ban was a “mild speed-bump” for him to get his message out to the public, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Matthew Heimbach was one of the several people to be banned from the microblogging site in November over radical and anti-Semitic views.

Heimbach’s tweets had been flagged several times in the past for racist comments. He had also quoted Nazi leaders and called for removal of Jewish people from society, the Post reported. His Twitter account was, meanwhile, also verified for some time in 2016.

According to the Post, in one such tweet, Heimbach wrote: “Remove Jewish bankers and kebab #MakePeaceIn5Words.” Replying to other users, he tweeted: “Literally the answer is to remove (((them)))” and posted a meme often used by white supremacists to identify Jewish people.

However, he does not seem to be bothered by the suspension of his Twitter account.

“A ban from Twitter is nothing more than a mild speed-bump when it comes to getting out the message of White Nationalism,” he said. “We have extensive alternatives to Twitter and the mainstream media for getting our message out to our supporters, the youth, and the public at large,” Heimbach told the Post.

Heimbach also said that the suspension is “a continuation of Twitter’s policy of banning Alt-Right accounts due to our success of using Twitter to promote White Nationalism.” He added: “I am appealing my suspension, but am looking forward to begin using Gab, a social media network with a far superior Free Speech policy than Twitter.”

According to Heimbach’s profile on the Southern Poverty Law Center, the white nationalist founded the White Student Union at Towson University in Maryland, from where he graduated in 2013. The following year, he became the training director of the neo-Confederate League of the South.

In January 2012, Heimbach wrote on Youth for Western Civilization blog: “No longer will the homosexual, Muslim, and black supremacist groups be allowed to hijack our campus. ... Youth for Western Civilization is preparing to take our campus back, all we need is the help of people like you to make it happen.”

Twitter has recently suspended several accounts that it believed promote hate, racism and anti-Semitic beliefs. Last July, the social media website banned conservative blogger Milo Yiannopoulos after he called on his followers to attack actress Leslie Jones with racist tweets.

In December, Twitter lifted suspension from another white nationalist Richard Spencer’s account. In recent months, Spencer has made headlines — mostly after Donald Trump’s presidential election win — for his so-called alt-right ideas, which are a mix of populism and white nationalism.