A woman who became one of President Joe Biden’s most vocal critics after her Marine son died during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan last year has seen her voice restored on Twitter.
Shana Chappell posted to Twitter on Tuesday — returning to the social media platform after a permanent ban imposed under the network’s previous ownership.
I finally have my Twitter account back. It’s been so long since I’ve used Twitter that i have forgotten how to use it haha. It’s gonna take me some time to get use to using it.
— Shana chappell (@Atrueangel) December 6, 2022
Chappell was suspended from Facebook and Instagram in the aftermath of the Aug. 26, 2021, death of her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, with the networks censoring her criticism of Biden, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Nikoui was only 20 years old when he was killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul International Airport, according to KABC-TV in Los Angeles.
Twelve other members of the United States military died in the bombing, as well as about 170 Afghan civilians.
The Gold Star mother’s Twitter account was silenced in seeming concert with Instagram and Facebook, with three of the major Big Tech platforms acting to silence her digital voice, according to The Post Millennial.
Chappell emerged as a critic of the Biden administration’s handling of the ugly Afghanistan evacuation in the aftermath of her son’s tragic death.
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“The withdrawal was a complete failure,” Chappell said in an August interview a year after the operation.
“It doesn’t look good for the administration, so they wanted the disastrous pullout forgotten about and they wanted the 13 [Americans] that were killed forgotten about, mainly because they were so young.
“They were treated like they were disposable and replaceable.”
In a presidential meeting following her son’s death, Chappell recalled that Biden interrupted her and changed the topic to his own son — who died of cancer.
“He interrupted me and started talking about his son,” says Gold Star mother Shana Chappell when she met with Biden after her son Kareem Nikoui was killed in Kabul.
pic.twitter.com/N70fDnZv0w— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 24, 2022
It appears likely that Chappell’s restoration on Twitter may have come as a result of Elon Musk’s amnesty to users of the service who found themselves previously banned under its prior administration.
The people have spoken.
Amnesty begins next week.
Vox Populi, Vox Dei.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2022
BREAKING: The Twitter Account of Gold Star Mother, Shana Chappell (@Atrueangel), mom of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, has been reinstated. pic.twitter.com/h7H00kmKVQ
— ALX ?? (@alx) December 6, 2022
Shortly after her return to Twitter, Chappell shared a photo of her late son’s graduation from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
Since Musk’s “amnesty” began, Twitter accounts restored have included those belonging to conservative clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson and the conservative Christian satire site The Babylon Bee.
Most famously, former President Donald Trump’s account was reinstated Nov. 18.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.