Conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos says he was joking when he told two reporters that he couldn't wait "for the vigilante squads to start gunning down journalists on sight. "He said Thursday that he texted that comment to reporters at the New York Observer and The Daily Beast essentially as a way to get them off his back, and that they were responsible for taking his comments seriously and spreading it.In a Facebook post, he expressed no sympathy to journalists involved in Thursday's shooting. Rather, he described journalists who spread his comment about vigilante squads as "vermin."<doc-sep>Right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos recently told at least two news outlets that he wanted vigilantes to start shooting journalists, but he insisted Thursday that he did so to taunt reporters. "I can't wait for vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight," the author and agitator told a reporter for the New York Observer over a text message. The news outlet, which wrote about the incident this week, was working on a feature story about a New York City restaurant that Yiannopoulos reportedly frequents. Yiannopoulos, when asked to elaborate, told the reporter this was his "standard response," according to the Observer. Yiannopoulos also sent a similar message to Will Sommer, a Daily Beast reporter. On Thursday, a gunman opened fired in an Annapolis, Md., newsroom, killing five people and injuring several others. Authorities have not said what the motive was or who was being targeted. Yiannopoulos, 33, confirmed in an Instagram post that he wrote the messages about shooting journalists, but that he sent them to the reporters as a way to troll them. "You're about to see a raft of news stories claiming that I am responsible for inspiring the deaths of journalists," he wrote. "The truth, as always, is the opposite of what the media tells you." He continued: "I sent a troll about 'vigilante death squads as a private response to a few hostile journalists who were asking me for comment, basically as a way of saying, 'F--- off.' They then published it." On Twitter, many condemned Yiannopoulos' remarks. Former National Security Agency contractor and leaker Edward Snowden, who did not specifically name Yiannopoulos, tweeted "to fight words with weapons is more than violence, it is a crime against the Constitution. Those who justify such attacks are no patriots." Yiannopoulos put the blame on the journalists who wrote about his remarks. "If there turns out to be any dimension to this crime related to my private, misreported remarks, the responsibility for that lies wholly with the Beast and the Observer for drumming up fake hysteria about a private joke, and with the verified liberals who pretended they thought I was serious," he wrote. Yiannopoulos once worked for Breitbart News, but resigned last year after podcasts surfaced in which he seemed to condone sex between men and boys. He has since said he does not condone pedophilia.<doc-sep>Conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos on Thursday insisted that he "wasn't being serious" when he recently told two reporters that he “can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists.” Yiannopoulos's comments Thursday came shortly after a gunman opened fire in the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md., leaving at least five people dead and several others seriously injured. Authorities have taken a suspect into custody, but have not yet released an identity or motive. “You’re about to see a raft of news stories claiming that I am responsible for inspiring the deaths of journalists,” Yiannopoulos wrote in a Facebook post. “The truth, as always, is the opposite of what the media tells you.” ADVERTISEMENT “I sent a troll about 'vigilante death squads' as a *private* response to a few hostile journalists who were asking me for comment, basically as a way of saying, 'F---k off.' They then published it,” he continued. “Amazed they were pretending to take my joke as a 'threat,' I reposted these stories on Instagram to mock them – and to make it clear that I wasn’t being serious.” Yiannopoulos reportedly sent Davis Richardson, a reporter for the Observer, a text message this week, saying: “I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight.” The right-wing provocateur also sent the message to Daily Beast reporter Will Sommer, according to the Observer.<doc-sep>article It didn’t take long for the internet to point out that former Breitbart editor and right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos had publicly stated he is issuing reporters threatening messages when asked to comment for stories as a shooter terrorized the newsroom at the Capital Gazette in Maryland. “I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight,” he told New York's online Observer over text message, published on Tuesday. When asked to elaborate on who specifically had upset him, Yiannopoulos explained that the statement was his “standard response to a request for comment.” Hours before the official motive was revealed and suspect Jarrod Ramos was identified, many on social media noticed the link between Yiannopoulos' words two and the the mid-day shooting on Thursday, where five people were killed. Many also noticed that President Trump regularly bashes the media, referring to them as the "enemy." Yiannopoulous responded on his own Facebook page that he is "not responsible for inspiring the deaths of journalists." Police ultimately revealed that Yiannopoulous was right: Ramos had a longstanding grudge against the newspaper about a column written about him after he harassed a woman. Advertisement Gazette reporter Phil Davis was live tweeting that multiple people had been shot.<doc-sep>
Milo Yiannopoulos said he was joking when he sent a text message to reporters, "I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight." The remark made the gay right-wing provocateur a trending topic on social media, following the Thursday shooting of the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md. Later in the day, Yiannopoulos posted a statement to Facebook that said his message, reportedly sent this week to writers at The Daily Beast and The Observer, was a "joke" that was meant as a "troll" to the journalists. "I sent a troll about 'vigilante death squads' as a *private* response to a few hostile journalists who were asking me for comment, basically as a way of saying, 'Fuck off,'" Yiannopoulos wrote. "[The media] then published it. Amazed they were pretending to take my joke as a 'threat,' I reposted these stories on Instagram to mock them — and to make it clear that I wasn’t being serious." Yiannopoulos, who is notoriously transphobic, also threw the trans community under the bus in his response. "I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this shooter — just like the last one at YouTube — is another demented left-winger," he wrote. "Let’s hope it’s another transgender shooter, too, so the casualties are minimal." At least five have been killed and several others have been injured in the Annapolis shooting, reports The New York Times. The suspect, described as a white adult male by the Times, is in custody. Read Yiannopoulos's full statement below.