Paper receives threats after exposing Busch Light guy’s racist tweets

The Des Moine Register is facing criminal threats and has had to heighten security following conservative backlash to a story they published this week that surfaced racist tweets college football fan Carson King wrote when he was 16 years old.

The now-24-year-old internet celebrity had raised over $1 million for charity after his sign asking for beer money funds went viral on ESPN’s College GameDay during a University of Iowa game. King had gained national attention and was offered a year’s worth of free cheap beer from Anheuser-Busch. But then a reporter at the Des Moines Register discovered the racist tweets, and Busch promptly revoked its partnership.

King’s since deleted tweets reportedly compared black women to gorillas and made light of black deaths in the Holocaust.

Though he issued an apology statement and called his past posts “sick,” Anheuser-Busch severed all ties with King after learning of the tweets. The company had previously said they would offer King a year’s worth of free cheap beer in limited edition cans with his face on them.

Some outraged online commenters accused the paper of exhibiting bias, and some urged readers to cancel their subscriptions and unfollow the paper’s social media accounts. Others chastised both the paper and Anheuser-Busch for participating in “Cancel Culture.”

The reporter also sent offensive tweets

Not long after Busch made its decision, King supporters discovered racist tweets from the Des Moine Register reporter, Aaron Calvin, which appeared just as bad, if not worse, than King’s posts. The revelation prompted an internal investigation by the newspaper and ushered in an outpouring of criticism from several prominent conservative commentators.

On Wednesday, some of the criticism turned criminal.

In an interview with local news outlet KWWL, Des Moines Police Department sergeant Paul Parizek said he had heard of multiple threats against the paper and was working to heighten security in the area.

“We are certainly aware of some of the threats they’ve had,” Parizek told KWWL. “They made a report to the police department so that goes on our radar as a place we are going to want to give a little extra attention to.”

The police sergeant went on to say that the newspaper had hired an off duty police officer to provide additional security within the office.

Neither the Des Moines Police Department nor the Des Moine Register immediately responded to Insider’s request for comment on the specific nature of the threats received.

These additional safety precautions come just over a year since five people were killed in a newsroom shooting at The Capital Gazette in Maryland. Last October, a Florida man sent explosive devices to CNN’s office. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The governor declared a day for King

Carson King /Twitter

Although Busch severed ties with King, he has maintained a steady stream of supporters both online and in real life. On Wednesday, over 24 hours after his tweet controversy first started making headlines, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds singed a proclamation creating an official “Carson King Day” for his beer philanthropy.

Somewhat ironically, given recent revelations, the proclamation reads, “Individuals like Carson King demonstrate how ‘Iowa Nice’ isn’t just a slogan, but our way of life.”

King did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.

In an interview with WHOTV, Sgt. Parizek said he’s in favor of free speech but that in this case, it appeared some angry critics had taken things too far.

“You can have your opinion and exercise your first amendment right all you want, but you cannot threaten people and you cannot threaten to commit crimes,” he said. “And if that happens and if we are able to identify you, you will probably be arrested.”

Read more:

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