Facebook has reportedly backtracked after it deleted the account of Shana Chappell, the grieving mother of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, who was killed in Afghanistan last week. Like so many other censorship instances before, the Big Tech platform claimed the removal was a mistake, according to the New York Post.
Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui was killed in the recent Kabul attack.
Chappell reportedly posted on Instagram that President Joe Biden was disrespectful when they met after the death of her son. She added that she told the president that her son’s blood was “on [his] hands,” according to Reclaim The Net.
Chappell reportedly posted on Facebook that her Instagram account had been deleted, and her Facebook account was subsequently restricted.
“As soon as I posted about what happened to my son Instagram started pulling up my posts from months ago and sending me notifications that if I kept posting stuff like this that they would disable my account. Posts from months ago,” she said, according to Reclaim The Net.
California State Senator Melissa Melendez (R), a Navy veteran, appeared to be appalled by Instagram’s actions.
“Shana Chappell, mother of Marine and American hero Kareem Nikoui killed in Kabul, has had her FB and Instagram accounts suspended for posts she made about her son,” Melendez tweeted.
The social media platform, however, reportedly said the account deletion was a mistake, and that Chappell’s account has since been restored.
“We express our deepest condolences to Ms. Chappell and her family. Her tribute to her heroic son does not violate any of our policies,” Instagram reportedly told Reclaim The Net. “While the post was not removed, her account was incorrectly deleted and we have since restored it.”
The New York Times described the post in an article before Instagram reportedly deleted it. Chappell’s post featured a photo of her son at the Kabul Airport, where he was later killed:
“On Friday, Kareem Nikoui’s mother, Shana Chappell, posted a photo on her Instagram account of her son with a broad smile, cradling his rifle amid the crowds of civilians and razor wire at the gate of the airport in Kabul. 'This is the last picture my son sent me of himself. It was taken on Sunday. I know i am still in shock right now. I felt my soul leave my body as i was screaming that it can’t be true! No mother, no parent should ever have to hear that their child is gone,' she wrote in the post.”
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Instagram at 1-650-543-4800 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact the Media Research Center and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
