Twitter reinstates the account of 'Baked Alaska' — the far-right troll who pleaded guilty to a Capitol riot charge
Baked Alaska
- Twitter has reinstated the account of an internet troll who pleaded guilty to a Capitol riot charge.
- "Baked Alaska"'s account was suspended in 2017 for violating Twitter's hateful conduct policy.
- The reinstatement appears to be part of Elon Musk's plan to offer a "general amnesty" to suspended accounts.
Twitter has unsuspended the account of Baked Alaska, the far-right troll also known as Tim Gionet, who pleaded guilty in July to a misdemeanor of parading, demonstrating, or picketing inside a Capitol building on January 6.
Gionet, who live-streamed his participation in the Capitol riot, was permanently banned from Twitter in 2017 for violating the platform's hateful conduct policy.
He had used the social media platform to make antisemitic remarks and to post white nationalist content.
The internet personality, who participated in the deadly Unite the Right white nationalist rally in 2017, appears to have had his account reinstated on Friday night.
Insider contacted the social media platform's new owner Elon Musk for comment as Twitter no longer has a communications department.
The unsuspension of Baked Alaska's account follows Musk's decision to reinstate banned accounts which, according to Platformer, he is referring to as the "Big Bang."
Shortly after reinstating former President Donald Trump's Twitter account, Musk polled users on whether he should offer a "general amnesty" to suspended accounts "provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam."
More than 3 million people voted, with 72.4% saying he should let the accounts return, Insider reported.
"The people have spoken," Musk responded. "Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei."
Gionet, who faces up to six months in prison for pleading guilty to his Capitol riot charge, has not yet received his jail sentence.
Gionet is also charged with misdemeanor criminal damage and attempted criminal damage over an incident in which he allegedly defaced a Hanukkah display outside the Arizona State Capitol, per Daily Beast.
Baked Alaska is among several controversial accounts that have been reinstated since Musk took over Twitter.
The internet troll celebrated the reinstatement on his Telegram channel, sharing an image purporting to be an email from Twitter informing him that his Twitter was back and that it had accidentally been marked as "spam."
"Love u guys," he wrote in a Telegram post. "We're back."
In another post, he said he has not yet been able to tweet because he is on vacation, and his two-factor authentication is linked to a phone he does not currently have with him.
In an email to Insider, Gionet said: "All glory to God! Thank you Elon Musk and I'm gearing up for my first tweet. 5 years is a long time to spend in Twitter jail so I'm definitely grateful for another chance!"