Shaun King blocks Holocaust survivor after demanding that conservatives accept antisemitism on Twitter in the name of free speech

On Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King, who claims he advocates for the poor and disenfranchised communities, blocked a Holocaust survivor for asking him to respect Jewish lives.

88-year old Lucy Lipiner, author of the book The Long Journey Home: A Young Girl’s Memoir of Surviving the Holocaust, claimed to have been blocked after replying to a post King wrote on Tuesday.

King appeared to have quit the platform Monday after labeling Elon Musk’s purchase of the tech giant a show of "white power," only to return to the platform early Tuesday to rail at conservatives, including Donald Trump Jr., who were celebrating his absence.

In one of his diatribes against Musk’s ownership of Twitter, King posted, "Ask ANY conservative this question and watch them STRUGGLE to answer it. Since you say free speech and ALL speech needs to be allowed on Twitter, does that mean you believe that should included targeted hate speech against Jews? Should that be allowed? Be specific and clear."

Lipiner replied, "Hi Shaun King, Holocaust survivor here. It seems you are exploiting hatred against Jews to win a political argument. Hate crimes against us are surging and I haven’t seen you speak up. Standing up for Jews is not a left vs right issue. Please stop politicizing our lives."

Following the comment, Lipiner claimed to be blocked by King.

Lipiner posted a screenshot of her allegedly being blocked from viewing King’s account and wrote, "Sadly, I have been blocked by someone for the first time on Twitter. As fewer & fewer Holocaust survivors walk this earth, at 88, I came here to educate people about WWII and stand against hate. Shaun King — please listen to Jewish Holocaust survivors instead of blocking us!"

After the Tweet went viral, King posted in response, "Respectfully, I never blocked you and never would. I deeply honor you for all you’ve endured. Whoever sent you that screenshot is mistaken. I have also notified @TwitterSafetyin case your account has been hacked or is being used by someone else. Blessings to you. -Shaun."

Lipiner retorted, "Shaun King, as a Holocaust survivor my entire life I have dealt with deniers who lie about what I’ve seen with my own eyes. You blocked me. Others saw it too. I am old, but I am not feeble or dumb. And I have been messed with by professionals. #NeverAgain"

Lipnier then posted screenshots of messages, allegedly from King, claiming he recently had neck surgery and that he was contacting "Twitter safety and attorneys."

Lipiner said, "Shaun King is sending me strange messages about him speaking to attorneys about me. Is he implying he is going to sue me? Because I shared the screenshot of when he blocked me on Twitter? Why is he doing this? Can someone please help me?"

Shaun King trended on Twitter following the exchange, after Jewish organizations called out the BLM activist.

In support of Lipiner’s point that King was exploiting antisemitism to make a political point, a search of the self proclaimed social justice and civil rights activist’s tweet history shows that he has never tweeted about the Holocaust before his interaction with Lipiner, nor antisemitism.

King had previously been criticized by Jewish groups for claiming that the Holocaust is only considered important because its victims were Europeans.

In October 2021 King posted on Instagram, "The only reason why people celebrate 'Christopher Columbus Day' and never 'Adolf Hitler Day'’ is because Columbus massacred non-europeans [sic]."

In response, the American Jewish Committee tweeted, ".@ShaunKing's comment is both deeply offensive and blatantly false, fueled by the age-old antisemitic trope of "Jewish privilege." Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis specifically because they were NOT considered white European. King should apologize."

In 2019, King falsely accused the Jewish state of Israel of apartheid, telling a group of Bernie Sanders supporters that the Senator had always spoken out for underdog causes saying, "Even today, he speaks out against apartheid-like conditions in Palestine even though it’s not popular."

King was also nominated by the group Stop AntiSemitism in their 2021 "AntiSemite of the Year" contest for comparing "…America’s early leaders to Nazis and openly defends antisemites such as Linda Sarsour, Louis Farrakhan and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar."

In 2017, before she was kicked out of the Woman’s March for antisemitism, King referred to Linda Sarsour as "one of the most effective, skilled, passionate organizers in the world." Following her removal from the organization, in March 2020, King encouraged people to buy Sarsour's new book calling it a "MUST READ," despite her well-known antisemitic rhetoric.

King refused to condemn notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan, referred to him as a "lifesaver" and claimed that his support of the well known bigot had "nothing to do with antisemitism."

According to Stop AntiSemitism, in 2019, "after Omar used an antisemitic trope claiming that U.S. leaders were paid by an Israeli lobby group, King stated that Democrats should feel 'shame' for not defending Omar and called the attack on her 'bigoted and dangerous.' A few months later, he praised Omar, tweeting she was a person 'for hope and change.'"

In 2021, when Israel civilians were under rocket attack from Hamas terrorists, King on social media attempted to justify Palestinian violence and implied to his followers that Israel was the aggressor and denied the country’s right to defend itself.