On Friday, independent journalist Leeroy Johnson, who has been covering events across the country, but most prominently the anti-vaccine mandate protests in New York City, was suspended from Twitter.
In response to the suspension, Johnson created a GETTR account, writing: "My Twitter account was suspended! Please spread the word ! My Instagram account is still up same name on Twitter."
Johnson, who was in Washington, DC, covering the annual March for Life, also posted a photo of himself on GETTR in front of the Capitol building flipping the camera off, with the caption "Fu Twitter!"
Johnson has also set up another Twitter account in response to the ban, @Leeroypress2.
In addition, Johnson informed those that follow him that he has a Telegram channel as well, stating on that channel: "My Twitter account has been nuked for no reason at all."
You can follow @LeeroyPress on Telegram
— Yanky ? (@Yanky_Pollak) January 21, 2022
he got banned by Twitter #FreeLeeroyhttps://t.co/KA09BAH4Si
Johnson told The Post Millennial that Twitter "gave me no reason at all" regarding his suspension. "I just logged in and it said my account was suspended."
He provided a message that Twitter gave in regards to the suspension, which states: "Your account (@LeeroyPress) is currently suspended. For more information, please log into twitter.com."
"This is crazy. I don't even give an opinion when I post. I just shot (sic) and give a description," Johnson continued.
He also noted that an old account he never uses was "nuked" as well.
A large portion of Johnson's work is based in New York City, where he has been documenting the numerous anti-vaccine mandate protests across the city, including ones done in public and ones done inside of businesses.
The suspension of his account has sparked the hashtag #freeLeeroy on Twitter, with users outraged by the loss of the account.
.@LeeroyPress sent me a screenshot of his suspension no reason was given! @verified @Twitter @TwitterSupport was this a mistake? #FreeLeeroy! pic.twitter.com/sloBhztVJi
— Yanky ? (@Yanky_Pollak) January 21, 2022
.@TwitterSupport I think @LeeroyPress was wrongfully suspended.
— Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) January 21, 2022
Please reinstate his account. #freedomofpress pic.twitter.com/2P7WkzStAx
Leeroy was the guy filming the anti mandate and other protests in NYC now twitter took him out! #freeLeeroy! https://t.co/FhkM9nc4Ie
— Yanky ? (@Yanky_Pollak) January 21, 2022
This is a big loss. This account provided on the ground coverage of many events & protests across NYC pic.twitter.com/jS9jVOwVOd
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) January 21, 2022