Time correspondent Michael Grunwald quickly decided better of his tweet suggesting he was looking forward to writing about Wikileaks founder Julian Assange being taken out by a drone strike.
@MikeGrunwald @juhasaarinen Hopefully someone will take you out with a meat grinder
— Bear_Code (@webwildink) August 17, 2013
https://twitter.com/DankBuds420/status/368880845039226883
https://twitter.com/anonymisterz/status/368888518707142656
Tough crowd. Grunwald decided to delete the tweet, but not without further antagonizing Assange’s supporters and others.
Fair point. I'll delete. @rober1236Jua my main problem with this is it gives Assange supporters a nice safe persecution complex to hide in
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 17, 2013
Wow, psychopath @MikeGrunwald admits he deleted not because he advocated murder of a journalist, but because of reaction. cc: @TIME
— Meanwhile … ? (@crockettoo_) August 18, 2013
Demand @Time cut ties w/ @MikeGrunwald – psychopathic "Journo" who tweets about craving the death of Julian Assange. #BoycottTime @AssangeC
— #UpdateNZ (@endarken) August 17, 2013
https://twitter.com/shelley_ozzy/status/368888504207425536
https://twitter.com/charnyr/status/368888396279595009
https://twitter.com/JonathanDBrown/status/368888322422079488
@MikeGrunwald so you want Snowden killed now too?
— chickeee (@chickeee) August 18, 2013
@ggreenwald @MikeGrunwald @Time must cleanse itself fr this fascist former journalist whois happy 2report on state sanctioned murder b4 fact
— Arthur Klein (@theGuruWithin) August 18, 2013
Recommended
@wikileaks @MikeGrunwald #Assange Please report him to the Police for inciting murder.
— amer husain (@timeofaquarius) August 18, 2013
https://twitter.com/Alrahambra/status/368888209033277441
https://twitter.com/Asimhaneef/status/368892810906193920
https://twitter.com/kadybat/status/368892231165292544
.@TIME must show that journalists calling for the murder of other journalists, or, indeed, anybody, is never acceptable. @TheTinaBeast
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 18, 2013
Drone strike = "The murder " in non Orwell speak -can't wait to defend "drone strike that takes out Julian Assange" http://t.co/S3IPbGfwJZ
— John Cusack (@johncusack) August 18, 2013
Grunwald linked to a piece he published earlier this year arguing that the government is obligated to limit individual freedoms to protect lives, but the “don’t tread on me crowd” wasn’t impressed.
Thanks for your input, Don't Tread on Me crowd. Here's a sense of why I disagree with you. http://t.co/n2YvKnEiQG
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 17, 2013
.@MikeGrunwald You seem to be under the impression that only "the Don't Tread on Me Crowd" objects to preemptively defending murder.
— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) August 17, 2013
I hope @MikeGrunwald isn't punished. I want other media figures comfortable revealing their attitudes. We'll see who the real radicals are.
— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) August 18, 2013
* * *
Update:
After withstanding the closest thing Twitter has to an unmanned drone strike, Grunwald apologized.
It was a dumb tweet. I'm sorry. I deserve the backlash. (Maybe not the anti-Semitic stuff but otherwise I asked for it.)
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 18, 2013
No. It was dumb so I took it back. "@m_i_c_h_a_e_l_m: @MikeGrunwald bet you only tweeted this after speaking with your supervisors at Time"
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 18, 2013
I didn't need a boss to tell me it was dumb. I mean, @blakehounshell called me derpy! Again, I apologize. Good night, everyone.
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 18, 2013
nobody is going to drone julian assange, btw
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) August 18, 2013
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional tweets.
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