Streaming platform Twitch has removed one of its most popular emotes after the person depicted in said emote took to social media to support and stir up the Donald Trump supporters who invaded the Capitol, yesterday (January 6, 2021).
The scenes from Washington, DC were truly horrifying, as a wave of people loyal to the outgoing president of the United States forced their way into the Capitol, while senators were going through the process of certifying the election of the next president, Joe Biden. One Trump supporter was shot during the invasion of the building, and they later died from their injuries.
As events were unfolding, Ryan Gutierrez, aka Gootecks, tweeted his thoughts on the incident, referring to the individual who died. He wrote: "Will there be civil unrest for the woman who was executed inside the Capitol today or will the #MAGAMartyr die in vain?"
Gootecks is a prominent figure in the fighting game community, having been heavily involved in the professional Street Fighter scene for over a decade. A snapshot of an old, surprised reaction of his, seen in a video of 2012, became a Twitch emote, the Pogchamp. The emote has been a mainstay since 2012, but after his tweet, Twitch took the step to remove it.
Twitch issued a statement via social media, where it said:
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"We've made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today."
A second tweet continued: "We want the sentiment and use of Pog to live on - its meaning is much bigger than the person depicted or image itself- and it has a big place in Twitch culture. However, we can't in good conscience continue to enable use of the image."
Twitch will be introducing a replacement for the Pogchamp emote in the near future. Gootecks himself is yet to offer any kind of public reaction. Joe Biden has been officially certified as the next president of the United States, but Trump's continued, baseless accusations of voter fraud, and stories of a stolen election, are unlikely to stop.
Featured Image Credit: TwitchTopics: Twitch
