“America deserved 9/11,” is the incendiary statement that prompted Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker’s suspension from Twitch.
The comment is pulled from Piker’s reaction to a Joe Rogan podcast that features republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw. Early in the interview, Rogan raises concerns regarding tension between the U.S. and states that espouse a combative response to Western diplomatic ideals.
“In 100 and how many countries do we have [military] bases?” says Rogan. Rogan goes on to cite the drone attacks in Yemen, which have killed thousands of civilians, as a source of foreign resentment toward the West. “You can kind of understand why their would be a hatred,” finishes Rogan.
Offering his defense of American military efforts and counter-terrorism initiatives, Crenshaw counters by claiming that, “Opinions in these countries are not homogenous. There’s millions of people in Yemen probably begging for us to come there.”
“Same with Iraq.” He continues. “The Iraqis did not want us leaving.”
Piker, who also serves as a host on the popular online news show The Young Turks, took offense to Crenshaw’s claims. “Like we totally brought it upon ourselves dude, holy shit.” He even goes as far as saying “Didn’t [Crenshaw] go to war and like literally lose his eye because some Mujahideen, a brave fucking soldier, fucked his eyehole with their dick.”
Piker followed up on an episode of The Young Turks, clarifying that the above statement about Crenshaw’s eye (which was lost to an IED) was satirical and a reference to Rambo 3.
During the outburst, Piker’s Twitch chat was already starting to bubble over. But the conversation didn’t end there. Notable personalities in the streaming community, such as Daniel “Keemstar” Keem, were quick to offer their take on the issue.
Twitch reserves the right to take action against any content that is “harassing, threatening, abusive, or otherwise objectionable.” The vague language found in Twitch’s terms of service is purposefully ill-defined to give the organization the necessary latitude to make judgments regarding “objectionable” content on an as-needed basis.
After deliberating behind closed doors, Twitch issued a suspension on Piker’s channel without specifying whether it was his 9/11 comment or his personal attack on Crenshaw that triggered the ban.
Both Crenshaw and Piker have remained vocal in defense of their disparate opinions. Crenshaw appeared on Fox News to take aim at the “increasingly depraved left.”
At the same time, Piker confirmed his position while expressing regret in the way by which he voiced it. “Obviously, 9/11 was a horrific tragedy,” he says. “3,000 Americans died, okay? 7,000 troops have died since then in endless wars. And if you’re spending all of your energy getting upset at me because I think that is abhorrent and awful, maybe you should spend your energy elsewhere and realize that those who justify the endless bloodshed don’t actually have the best interest of those young men and women at heart.”
