Laura Loomer Pays $900 to Crash Jack Dorsey Speech at Bitcoin Conference
Marco Bello/Getty Images
Laura Loomer crashed an annual bitcoin conference on Friday to heckle Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
Dorsey was attempting to speak at the Bitcoin 2021 soiree in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood when Loomer tried to crash the stage, where footage (see below) captured her shouting that Dorsey had engaged in a “human rights violation.”
In a statement, Loomer informed Mediaite that she paid $900 in bitcoin for a ticket to the conference. That ticket allowed for the seconds-long opportunity, which came in the opening hours of the two-day event. She also said that bitcoin was about “financial freedom” and accused Dorsey of engaging in “censorship” by banning her and other Twitter users, including former President Donald Trump, and said Dorsey was a “hypocrite” for speaking on “decentralization and freedom.”
Jack Dorsey at the conference. Marco Bello/Getty Images.
More than 12,000 attendees were signed up to attend the conference, where individual passes started at around $900 and ranged into prices well above $10,000.
Laura Loomer heckles Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey over censorship at Bitcoin event. pic.twitter.com/BETCfA5QW0
— Suburban Black Man ?? (@goodblackdude) June 4, 2021
A wild #BitcoinMiami event today @jack heckled a few times during his session but this was over the top
— Susan Li (@SusanLiTV) June 4, 2021
Loomer has had a long-running beef with Dorsey for banning her from Twitter in November 2018, after she used the platform to claim Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was “anti-Jewish.” Twitter maintained that ban even through her 2020 congressional campaign, when Loomer ran unsuccessfully as the Republican nominee to represent West Palm Beach in the U.S. House.
The issue even led Florida lawmakers to pass legislation last month aimed at assisting Trump and Loomer — who are both Palm Beach residents. The bill, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), imposes a fine of $250,000 on tech companies for each day they prohibit political candidates from using their platforms.
Dorsey, for his part, used the weekend conference to promote his payment-processing company, Square. He announced on Twitter Friday morning the company was “considering” the creation of a new hardware wallet — or physical device — for storing bitcoin. He also suggested the wallet might involve “assisted self-custody,” meaning Square would retain some control over funds held on the devices.
