TheDonald's owner speaks out on why he finally pulled plug on hate-filled site

[DonViejo]

The Army veteran, a site moderator who owned its domain, watched with growing alarm as racism, threats and QAnon references flourished on the pro-Trump site. His former co-moderators called him a ‘sellout’ who went ‘rogue’ after internal schism.

By Craig Timberg and Drew Harwell

Feb. 5, 2021 at 9:14 a.m. EST

Jody Williams knew things had gotten out of hand early last month, when a post on the pro-Trump message board TheDonald included a detailed diagram of how to tie a “hangman’s knot” on a noose.

Williams was a moderator for the board and owner of its Web address, so he removed the noose instructions. But within an hour, he said, another moderator quietly restored it near the top of the site. Three days later, on Jan. 6, a real noose was hung on makeshift gallows on the National Mall, amid a violent siege on the U.S. Capitol.

The battle over the noose diagram was just one of many over a site so infested with racist, anti-Semitic and violent content that Williams, 41, an Army veteran who lost a leg in a noncombat accident, often recoiled at what his fellow Trump supporters said and did.

“You might be happy being some ethno-nationalist, but I’m not,” said Williams, recalling his exchanges with a handful of particularly hardcore moderators. “I don’t want anything to do with this.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/05/why-thedonald-moderator-left/