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Metro pulls former Breitbart provocateur’s book ads

WASHINGTON — Metro has pulled ads for controversial right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos’ self-published memoir after determining the ads violated the transit system’s policies banning issue-oriented, political and other advocacy advertising.

The ads went up in stations and on some Metro trains within the last week, and the agency said they have now been taken down.

Yiannopoulos is self-publishing his book after Simon & Schuster dropped a publishing deal in February amid an angry backlash against the publisher from opponents of Yiannopoulos’s “vicious rhetoric.” He announced on Friday that he’s suing the publisher.

Yiannopoulos has been banned from Twitter after a series of tweets in the midst of a racist campaign that had been launched against actress Leslie Jones. He also resigned from Breitbart News earlier this year after comments he made about pedophilia emerged.

Metro uses a contractor to sell and install ads across the system, but ultimately Metro’s leaders can make a final determination.

Metro policies on advertising include:

  • “Advertisements intended to influence members of the public regarding an issue on which there are varying opinions are prohibited”
  • “Advertisements that are intended to influence public policy are prohibited”

In the past, decisions on which ads to reject have led to lawsuits focused on First Amendment rights in public spaces.

Metro fare evasion crackdown sparks police confrontation concerns

WASHINGTON — Amid complaints that Metro’s fare evasion crackdown is leading to people being pinned to the ground or pepper-sprayed unnecessarily by police, Metro’s general manager said Thursday that the crackdown is necessary to ensure that other rules are followed and that Metro gets all of the funding it is entitled to. “The way WMATA treats its riders, particularly people of color, is unacceptable,” Brianna Musselman told the Metro Board Thursday. She recorded video of a man being pinned to the ground and pepper-sprayed by Metro police at the Gallery Place station in June, during an encounter that began when officers said the man tried to enter the rail system without paying.
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