Thor Harris: Twitter Says Penis Drawings, Not Nazi-Punching Video, Lead to Suspension

Thor Harris, frontman of Thor & Friends and former member of Swans and Shearwater, was temporarily suspended from Twitter last week. It happened a day after Harris posted a video in which he jokingly demonstrated “how to punch a Nazi.” Harris and many others speculated that the suspension was a direct result of the video posting. Now, more details about the situation have come to light, and Harris has written an essay for the Talkhouse giving his side of the story. According to Twitter, the video itself was not the reason why Harris’ account was suspended. A drawing of penises that appeared as his background image was. But that’s only one piece of the puzzle.

dear friend Thor Harris was suspended from Twitter for posting this how punch nazis in the face video. here you go! pic.twitter.com/1tJcKiWi7c

— Xiu Xiu (@XiuXiuforLife) February 8, 2017

Harris writes that when the video was originally posted on February 6, the response was “mostly praise and laughter.” “But then, about seven hours into this social experiment, came a wave of right-wingers who found this video threatening and horrifying,” he writes. “They misperceived it as a call to arms. These were white men and a few women who wanted to put bullets in me.”

In the evening on February 7, Harris discovered that his account had been suspended. “I could only assume it was for the ‘How to Punch a Nazi’ video,” he writes.

He continues:

The suspension of my account made the video go viral. I could not Tweet, but the beloved and hated video had a life of its own. Way out of my control. I think if you keep hate from growing in your heart, everything you make will turn out pretty OK. I did not feel any shame over the video. I had hit a nerve.

Harris’ account was back up the next day. He writes:

The evening of February 8 they unsuspended my Twitter account and sent me an email saying that the “pornographic” background on my profile had gotten me suspended. The background was an ink drawing I had made of penises. It had been there for years. The Christian Right had busted me on a technicality. By that point, the video was bouncing all over the world.

Harris shared the email with Pitchfork; it offers no other explanation for the suspension. Representatives for Twitter declined to comment to Pitchfork when asked about Harris’ situation.

Ultimately, Harris concludes his Talkhouse essay on a positive note: “I’m glad I put that video out there. Anyone who is bothered by it but not bothered by a President Trump has much to learn about the world and how to live in it.”

Read the full essay here.

Watch Thor & Friends perform “Semaphore” with Flock of Dimes:

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