Critically-acclaimed transgender horror writer hails Osama bin Laden’s ‘principled’ destruction of Twin Towers – months after sharing her need to slit JK Rowling’s throat

A transgender horror writer who sparked outrage earlier this yr by threatening to slit JK Rowling’s throat has hailed Osama bin Laden’s destruction of the Twin Towers.

Gretchen Felker-Martin on Thursday joined within the refrain of admiration for the al-Qaeda chief, sparked by TikTokers abruptly ‘discovering’ his rational for 9/11.

The Massachusetts-based writer wrote on X, the place she has 30,000 followers: ‘Can fairly safely state that bin Laden and I didn’t, uh, agree on a lot, however blowing up the World Commerce Heart might be essentially the most principled and defensible factor he did.’

Bin Laden’s 2002 ‘Letter to America’ has been circulating broadly this week, within the midst of the Israel–Hamas conflict.

TikTok customers say that bin Laden opened their eyes to American international coverage and taught them invaluable classes about world geopolitics. The revival in curiosity, and ignorance of bin Laden’s concepts, have prompted shock and anger.

Felker-Martin on Friday deleted the tweet, and apologized. She beforehand shared her need to chop JK Rowling’s throat over the Harry Potter writer’s stance on transgender points.

‘The opposite day in a second of misery I talked out my ass to play satan’s advocate in a tasteless, pointless approach,’ she tweeted. 

‘I sincerely remorse it, and I apologize to anybody damage or offended by my inconsiderate phrases.’

However one X consumer identified that she had praised bin Laden up to now.

He cited Felker-Martin’s August 2020 tweet, justifying the September 11 assaults.

‘The massive crime of 9/11 is that the s*** we do each day abroad will get performed to us precisely as soon as,’ she stated. 

The revival of the 2002 doc has bemused and enraged many. 

The White Home expressed dismay on the resurgence of curiosity within the letter.

‘There may be by no means a justification for spreading the repugnant, evil, and antisemitic lies that the chief of al Qaeda issued simply after committing the worst terrorist assault in American historical past – highlighting them as his direct motivation for murdering 2,977 harmless Individuals,’ stated Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the White Home.

‘And nobody ought to ever insult the two,977 American households nonetheless mourning family members by associating themselves with the vile phrases of Osama bin Laden.

‘Notably now, at a time of rising antisemitic violence on the planet, and simply after Hamas terrorists carried out the worst slaughter of the Jewish individuals for the reason that Holocaust within the identify of the identical conspiracy theories.

‘Like President Biden stated this yr in remembrance of the Individuals who misplaced their lives due to Osama bin Laden, ‘it is extra vital now than ever that we come collectively’ in opposition to a ‘rising tide of hatred and extremism.”

TikTok stated they are going to be eradicating all content material invoking the letter. 

‘Content material selling this letter clearly violates our guidelines on supporting any type of terrorism,’ TikTokPolicy wrote in a submit to X, previously Twitter.

‘We’re proactively and aggressively eradicating this content material and investigating the way it acquired onto our platform.’

The video-sharing platform claims the variety of movies on TikTok is ‘small’ and ‘studies of it trending [on the] platform is inaccurate.’  

‘This isn’t distinctive to TikTok and has appeared throughout a number of platforms and the media,’ the submit added.

Movies with the hashtag ‘LettertoAmerica’ have been considered 7.3 million occasions. 

Terribly the bulk are claiming assist for bin Laden’s reasoning – with no thought for the freedoms he criticizes.

The letter started to achieve traction on-line after UK newspaper The Guardian linked to a 2002 article, which translated it in full, in a bit concerning the ongoing Israel–Hamas conflict. 

It was subsequently deleted, with the outlet explaining to DailyMail.com that it was being shared ‘with out its unique context.’ 

The letter continued to unfold on X however was prevented from spreading on Reddit. 

The Guardian didn’t clarify additional as to how the hyperlink was made between the present battle within the Center East and a verbatim letter from bin Laden that was greater than 20 years outdated. 

The hyperlink to the letter unfold, with tons of of TikTokers posting movies in response to studying it, wherein they seem to confuse the hateful diatribe for an mental suppose piece. 

The letter was initially posted with an article explaining that the unique model was in Arabic in a web site utilized by al-Qaeda to ‘disseminate messages and ‘was despatched to tons of of subscribers to an e mail checklist run by Mohammed al-Massari, the UK-based Saudi Arabian dissident.’ 

The message added that the US authorities was included on the checklist.  

The assorted trending movies concerning the letter embody no context round bin Laden’s life as a jihadist. 

In different sections of his correspondence, bin Laden blames the US authorities for spreading AIDS all through the world, described homosexuality as ‘immoral’ and sought to show America into an oppressive non secular state just like Afghanistan.

The pattern seems to have began with TikToker Lynette Adkins who posted a video on November 14. 

‘I want everybody to cease what they’re doing proper now and go learn – it is actually two pages – go learn ‘A Letter to America,” she stated.

In his notorious letter, Bin Laden ranted that the remedy of Palestinian individuals needed to be ‘revenged’ and expressed justifications for the killing of civilians within the identify of jihad. 

Bin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs in a raid on his compound in Pakistan in Might 2011. 

‘The American individuals are those who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our houses in palestine, the armies which occupy our lands within the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which make sure the blockade of Iraq,’ bin Laden wrote. 

For that reason, the Saudi Arabian terrorist wrote, all Individuals and Jewish individuals have been culpable for ‘the crimes dedicated by the Individuals and Jews in opposition to [Muslims].’

Bin Laden wrote that AIDS was a ‘Satanic American Invention’ and repeatedly made anti-Semitic remarks together with suggesting that American society was infiltrated by Jewish individuals who ‘management your insurance policies, media and financial system.’ 

Felker-Martin is not any stranger to courting controversy.  

Earlier this yr, named a collection of writers she accused of transphobia – together with Rowling – in a tweet despatched on February 12. 

She added: ‘If all of them had one throat, man.’

She had earlier decried the homicide of British transgender teenager Brianna Ghey 16, and urged Rowling and her ilk had stoked violence which led to the killing.

One other author she railed in opposition to, journalist Jesse Singal, condemned Felker-Martin for making the loss of life risk, and stated she has an extended historical past of constructing threats of violence. 

In Felker-Martin’s debut novel, Manhunt, revealed in February 2022, Rowling is murdered by being burned alive. 

The e-book is promoted as ‘an explosive post-apocalyptic novel that follows trans ladies and trans males on a grotesque journey of survival.’ It has been lauded as ‘visceral’ ‘gripping’ and ‘sensible’ by NPR and the New Yorker. 

Felker-Martin’s tweet – which she has now deleted – got here shortly earlier than she joined 180 activists in signing a letter to The New York Instances attacking their protection of transgender points, which has seen the paper look at whether or not younger youngsters must be given puberty blockers, or gender reassignment surgical procedure.

Rowling has shared related views, and likewise questioned whether or not trans ladies must be allowed entry to some female-only areas akin to prisons, home abuse shelters, or sporting contests.