Twitter Halts Verifications After ‘Unite the Right’ Organizer Gets Blue Checkmark

“System is broken,” tweets CEO Jack Dorsey after Charlottesville rally leader gets verified

If you’ve been on the cusp of receiving Twitter’s coveted blue checkmark, you’re going to have to wait longer.

Twitter announced on Thursday it is pausing its verification process, one day after Jason Kessler, the organizer of the infamous “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, received a blue checkmark.

Events in Charlottesville resulted in the death of protester Heather Hayer — who Kessler called a “fat, disgusting communist” in the aftermath.

In a tweet outlining the decision, the social platform said, “verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance.”

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