Jesse Kelly defends ‘hilarious’ Twitter post radio host made about teen murder suspect, Election Day

Jesse Kelly, a conservative radio host recently suspended from Twitter, refused to apologize for the post that prompted him to briefly lose his privileges on the platform upon returning Tuesday.

The host of “The Jesse Kelly” show defended his post about Kenosha shooting suspect Kyle Rittenhouse roughly a week after Twitter determined it violated the company’s policy against glorifying violence.

“I’m back from yet another suspension for a hilarious tweet that I’m not sorry about at all,” posted Mr. Kelly, whose account boasts 250,000 followers. “I apologize you had to be without me here.”

Twitter intervened last week after Mr. Kelly asked on the eve of Election Day whether there would be a “need” for Mr. Rittenhouse, who is accused of fatally shooting two people at a demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Lawyers for Mr. Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Illinois, attest he went to Kenosha in late August to protect businesses from rioters and argue that he fired his gun in self-defense and will be acquitted.

Cities across the U.S. were bracing for the possibility of rioting over the presidential election, and Twitter accordingly found Mr. Kelly’s original post violated its policy forbidding the glorification of violence.

Twitter rules prohibit celebrating, praising, or condoning violent crimes “where people were targeted because of their membership in a protected group, or the perpetrators of such acts.”

First-time offenders of this Twitter policy are required to remove the content and also temporarily locked out of their accounts as a consequence, according to the company.

Mr. Kelly, who twice unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a Republican, has been suspended from Twitter in the past and predicted on Tuesday that he will eventually be permanently banned.

“Never ask me to apologize. Ever. Cause I’m never gonna say sorry. Especially to people I despise,” Mr. Kelly said in another tweet.

“My radio show is nationally syndicated and never once has my company told me what I can or can’t say,” he said in another. “Twitter don’t run me.”