“Yes, some of his negotiations that violated our rules have been withdrawn,” John Matze told Mediaite, specifying that the post, or negotiation, on “firing squads” was among those removed.
Wood, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, told CNN: “I made no threat. I don’t believe in violence. I believe in the rule of law.”
“I have reliable evidence that Pence was involved in acts of treason. My comments were rhetorical hyperbole. Any journalist must understand this concept. If my information is accurate, law enforcement will determine which punishment, if any, should be administered to. Pence like they do with all criminals, “said Wood.
Wood posted on Parler on Thursday, according to Mediate, “They let them in. Prepare the firing squads. Pence goes FIRST.”
White House spokesman Judd Deere told CNN in a statement: “We strongly condemn all calls to violence, including those against any member of this government.”
A United States Secret Service spokesman told CNN: “We are aware of the comments and take all threats against our protégés seriously.”
CNN contacted Parler for comment.
Wood is a lawyer focused on civil litigation and has experience in First Amendment litigation and defamation, according to his website. He represented Kentucky high school student Nicholas Sandmann, who settled a lawsuit with CNN after being at the center of a viral video controversy.
Parler was recently removed from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Google told CNN that it was aware of “continued posts on the Parler app that aims to incite continuing violence in the United States”, and that its app store requires “apps that implement robust moderation for shocking content”. Apple told CNN in a statement that Parler had not taken “appropriate measures to deal with the proliferation of these threats to people’s security”.
The platform has called itself a free speech alternative to attract conservatives who say the larger platforms are censoring their views.
CORRECTION AND UPDATE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Lin Wood as a lawyer for Kyle Rittenhouse in a criminal case in Wisconsin. Rittenhouse’s attorney is Mark Richards. The story has also been updated with more information about Wood’s effort to raise money for Rittenhouse.
Evan Perez, Jeremy Diamond and Brian Fung of CNN contributed to this report.