Twitter's future may be unclear to many of its users, but Elon Musk is pushing forward. The Tesla boss acquired the microblogging platform for a cool $44 billion, and people have expressed concern. Musk's attitude, political affiliations, and alleged egomaniacal decision-making have resulted in a sweep of firings.
There has been one antic after another in recent months, and this week, Musk is once again under fire. He shared a video of a closet at Twitter Headquarters filled with shirts that read, "Stay Woke."
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The merchandise was first introduced in 2016 courtesy of the "Twitter Blackbirds." The Daily Beast reported that the platform created the initiative to "support diversity at Twitter," but these days, Musk is laughing at their efforts.
Subsequently, Musk explained that the "#StayWoke" Twitter movement was in response to the Ferguson protests that emerged following the death of Michael Brown. In 2014, the 18-year-old was shot and killed by Ferguson, Missouri police. It was widely reported that his hands were up at the time, resulting in the popularized phrase, "Hands Up, Don't Shoot."
However, Musk seemingly laughed about the protests, adding that Brown allegedly didn't have his hands in the air at the time. “Obama’s own DOJ proved this [and] exonerated the cop," said Musk. "‘Hands up don’t shoot’ was made up. The whole thing was a fiction."
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Musk quickly earned backlash as people countered his point with reports from the Department of Justice that stated the opposite. Musk and his now-deleted posts have sparked a debate on Twitter as far-right conservatives defend him against activists calling for Brown's family to be given peace.
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