ST. LOUIS — A Twitter spokesperson said this week there was no sign Alderman John Collins-Muhammad Jr.’s account was hacked when it published a tweet that threatened communities and wards whose leaders were critical of one of the alderman’s key political allies.
The tweet, published at 7:57 p.m. Sunday and later deleted, came in defense of Alderman Joe Vaccaro: “@Aldermanjoe is my friend. If you come for him, Know that I (WE) are coming for you. Touch him, I’m ravaging your whole community/ward. That’s a promise. He a Mad Man. He my friend. Which means he is a friend to the @LouisFarrakhan. True me. True him. AND SEE WHAT HAPPEN!â€
On Monday, Collins-Muhammad, D-21st Ward, said in another tweet that his account had been hacked. He told the Post-Dispatch he was alerted to the tweet at about 9 p.m. Sunday and deleted it within the hour, after reporting the alleged hack to Twitter. On Monday, after images of the tweet circulated online, he locked the account before deleting it entirely.
People are also reading…
A Twitter spokesperson said in an email Wednesday that they could not verify the account had been hacked before Collins-Muhammad deleted it: “No signs of compromise or hacked activity on our end.â€
Collins-Muhammad on Thursday insisted his account was hacked but declined to comment further.
In a later text, he said he deleted his account because he “didn’t feel comfortable with a compromised account.â€
“It was in fact a hacked tweet — know that I serve my community faithfully and will always do such. My constituents in the 21st Ward know me and what I stand for and against: and they know that I would not make such remarks. My number one duty is to make their lives better each and every day and that has been my focus since being elected. My community is a work in progress and so am I. But that tweet was not me.â€
Collins-Muhammad had claimed the hacking could be linked to criticism of his and other aldermen’s support for a controversial bill to allow a private company to fly surveillance airplanes over the city in an effort to help police investigate crime.
He and Vaccaro, D-23rd Ward, were among aldermen who gave the bill preliminary approval in a 15-14 vote Friday. Vaccaro, who chairs the aldermanic public safety committee, was criticized on Twitter by opponents of the bill.
In addition to aerial surveillance, Collins-Muhammad and Vaccaro have been key allies on other issues, including Collins-Muhammad’s push for a ballot measure that would keep the number of wards at 28, rather than the 14 approved by voters in 2012.
Beth O’Malley of the Post-Dispatch contributed.
