Twitch Safety Advisory Council member FerociouslySteph recently took to social media to encourage looting throughout the United States of America.
FerociouslySteph’s comments come after widespread looting and property destruction in Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota as well as Los Angeles, California in response to the death of George Floyd.
Floyd was arrested on Monday evening after officers responded to a forgery in progress. According to Minneapolis Police, officers arrived at the seen and placed Floyd in handcuffs. They then noted he “appeared to be suffering medical distress.” Officers then contacted an ambulance and he was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center. He reportedly died a short time later.
Video of the arrest can be seen below.
https://youtu.be/yT-abUp7izE
Following Floyd’s death looting erupted in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Bring Me The News reports a number of businesses were destroyed or damaged in the widespread looting.
Dozens of businesses were targeted including Target, Wendy’s Autozone, and Cub Foods.
The looters also targeted the Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct and an under construction affordable housing development.
Related: Star Wars Actor John Boyega Hates “White on Black Racism” That “Ruined The World”
You can see some of the destruction in the video below.
Breaking: Multiple structures are now engulfed in flames as riots continue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Looting is now widespread in the city, with reports of looting miles away from the original protest location. pic.twitter.com/Mz6Y6Rcepo
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) May 28, 2020
Not only was there looting in Minnesota, but a protest turned violent in Los Angeles as well. CBS Los Angeles reports, “The protest, which started out peacefully, turned violent after some individuals smashed the windows of two California Highway Patrol cruisers and jumped on the vehicles.”
BREAKING NEWS: Black Lives Matter protestors attacking police cars on 101 freeway in LA during #GeorgeFloyd protest @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/iMYnFU2mO6
— Liz Habib (@LizHabib) May 28, 2020
Following these events, Twitch Safety Advisory Council member FerociouslySteph encouraged further looting and property destruction. She took to Twitter where she wrote, “Remember to cover your face — facial recognition tech is getting scary good and you could get identified in a video that happened years ago.”
She added, “The system is big broken — Solidarity for those resisting.”
Remember to cover your face —
facial recognition tech is getting scary good and you could get identified in a video that happened years ago.
The system is big broken —
Solidarity for those resisting.— FerociouslySteph (@FerociouslyS) May 28, 2020
In a subsequent tweet, FerociouslySteph wrote, “It’s not for us to judge people for not being complacent to oppression. You sometimes have to stand up.”
She added, “The system in place allowed a literal murder on the street to happen — forgive people for not believing it will save them if they’re nice and fall in line.”
It’s not for us to judge people for not being complacent to oppression.
You sometimes have to stand up.
The system in place allowed a literal murder on the street to happen — forgive people for not believing it will save them if they’re nice and fall in line.— FerociouslySteph (@FerociouslyS) May 28, 2020
This is the latest in a string of controversial statements that FerociouslySteph has made since being appointed a member of the Twitch Safety Advisory Council by Twitch.
Earlier this month FerociouslySteph targeted gamers saying, “I’m just not cool with white supremacy y’all. I think a lot of gamers are white supremacists. Sorry, just a fact of how I feel.”
She would double down on this opinion in a subsequent tweet where she writes, “Oooo yeah whole lot people with cis-white-male voices thinking voice chat is critical to competitive games being competitive. Tell me more about how we’ll solve systemic misogyny and everything will be fine~ lol.”
FerociouslySteph also indicated she would use her newly appointed position on the Twitch Safety Advisory Council to target people she deemed “shitty people.”
She stated on stream, “I’m not going anywhere. I have power. They can’t take it away from me.”
She continued, “There are some people that should be afraid of me. And there are because I represent moderation and diversity. And I’m going to come for hurtful, harmful people. If you are a really shitty person I’m going to stand up against you. Period.”
“Twitch is endorsing me to do that,” she concluded.
Twitch really need to put a end to this! It really is going to cause something like a Gamer Gate. I really believe this! pic.twitter.com/Q9XvhU10Hl
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) May 18, 2020
Despite these comments, FerociouslySteph remains a member of Twitch’s Safety Advisory Council and Twitch CEO Emmett Shear even defended FerociouslySteph claiming she was being “harassed.”
Shear wrote, “Harassment directed at council members or anyone at or on Twitch only underscores the importance of the council. We do not condone bullying or harassment of any kind and will continue to take action against accounts who engage in that behavior.”
It’s a galling statement given FerociouslySteph’s comments regarding gamers and her threats to target people she deems “shitty people.” But it does underscore Twitch’s position as a company and their decision to not only stand by their decision to appoint her to the Safety Advisory Council, but to also defend her following these comments.
What do you make of FerociouslySteph’s recent comments?