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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Reports: Accused Pittsburgh Killer1 Put Racist2 Posts on Social Media
The man accused of killing3 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh reportedly left messages on a small social media service.
The suspect, Robert Bowers4, was charged with 29 crimes, including hate crimes, related to the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The attack on the Jewish religious center also injured at least six others, including four police officers.
On the morning of the shooting, a person using the name of Robert Bowers posted an anti-Semitic message on a social media service called Gab5. The message targeted a Jewish nonprofit group called HIAS. The group seeks to help refugees around the world.
The message said: “HIAS likes to bring invaders6 in that kill our people.” The post continued, “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered…I’m going in.”
Officials said Bowers called out "All Jews must die," before he fired at people inside the synagogue.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit civil rights group. It said an examination of the suspect’s social media activity on Gab showed he had posted or reposted content at least 68 times. It said the postings often dealt with “numerous anti-Semitic conspiracy8 theories” long publicized by neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups.
By Monday, Gab was no longer available on the internet after several companies supporting the site cut off services for policy violations9.
The Gab service was launched in 2016 by Andrew Torba. He said his purpose was to provide another social media choice for people facing restrictions10 by other services.
The site gained popularity as Twitter and Facebook sought to ban members of a movement known as the “alt-right.” The alt-right is a far-right movement that publicizes extreme ideas -- mainly on the internet.
Twitter, Facebook and other social media have said bans are carried out when users violate policies against hate speech or threats of violence, not because of their political views.
On its Twitter page, Gab describes itself as “built, owned and funded by The People, with a mission to defend individual liberty and free expression online." The service lets users read and write messages called “gabs.”
The company that hosted the site, GoDaddy, said it decided11 to end its service because Gab had violated a policy against promoting violence. Payment company PayPal also banned Gab from using its services. Apple and Google blocked app sales of Gab for violating hate speech policies.
In an interview published Tuesday on the internet, Torba said he was “horrified” when he learned the shooting suspect had used Gab. He said Bowers clearly violated a company policy that bans “threats of violence and terrorism.” But Torba said he did not know about Bowers or his postings until after the attack.
Torba said his company had fully12 cooperated with U.S. law enforcement officials since the attack “to bring justice to an alleged13 terrorist.” He added, “Because of the data we provided, they now have plenty of evidence for their case.”
In a statement, Torba called the actions against his site and new criticism after the Pittsburgh shooting unfair. He says the site simply aims to “defend free expression” for all individuals.
“Social media often brings out the best and the worst of humanity,” his statement said. He added that he was working to find new partner companies to support the service so it can return to the internet.
“Gab isn’t going anywhere,” he wrote.
Other sites known to be popular with alt-right groups are 4chan and Reddit. These sites both have areas where members can read and post political views.
Oren Segal is the director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. He told Yahoo News his organization has already observed internet discussions among extremists about what will happen if Gab goes away forever. He said it is highly likely that another service sharing Gab’s views on uncensored speech would take over.
“This is the beginning of this discussion,” Segal said. “Gab being taken down is not the end.”
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Words in This Story
synagogue – n. the house of worship and communal14 center of a Jewish congregation?
slaughter7 – v. to kill a lot of people in a cruel way
conspiracy theory – n. a belief that an event or situation is the result of a secret plan made by powerful people
view – n. an opinion or way of thinking about something
liberty – n. the freedom to live, work and travel as you desire
promote – v. encourage something to happen or develop
app – n. a computer program that performs a special function?
alleged – adj. accused of something not yet legally proven
data – n. information or facts about something
plenty – adj. a lot of something
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killer
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| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
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racist
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| n.种族主义者，种族主义分子 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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bowers
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| n.（女子的）卧室( bower的名词复数 )；船首锚；阴凉处；鞠躬的人 | |
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gab
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| v.空谈，唠叨，瞎扯；n.饶舌，多嘴，爱说话 | |
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invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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violations
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| 违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸 | |
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restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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communal
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| adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的 | |
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