Even by the standards of his reported Sunday night that a man named Brandon Collado, who believed he was receiving coded messages from Musk’s ex-partner, the musical artist known as Grimes, had identified himself as the person in the video.
For his part, Collado also said he believed Musk was stalking him.
This development alone shows Musk’s security team might very well have had a good reason to consider Collado dangerous. Stalking is a genuine threat to well-known figures and their families, even more so when they’re controversial—as Musk is.
There’s reportedly security camera footage from the gas station where the incident between Collado and Musk’s security team took place, which means (presumably) we’ll have at least a little more definitive info of what actually went down, at some point. And according to Collado’s account in The Post, “officers with the South Pasadena police arrived at the gas station, questioned Collado and told him they’d file a report.”
But in the meantime, Musk is being infuriatingly opaque about an incident that he’s used to justify taking unprecedented actions in suspending multiple journalists’ accounts.
“Musk has seemingly rewritten rules on the fly to justify suspending less-sympathetic journalists for publishing—and in the case of Linette Lopez, hasn’t offered a justification at all. ”
He has deflected questions asking for specifics into a broader, considerably muddled conversation about what constitutes “doxxing,” what should be considered “public information,” and whether Musk meant anything he’s previously said about wanting to bring “transparency” and “free speech” to Twitter.
Musk has authorized several sympathetic journalists to publish (on Twitter) a series of “TWITTER FILES”—which show the previous Twitter regime selectively enforcing penalties for Terms of Service violations and, at times, just making up rules as they went along. The goal, Musk contends, is to provide transparency and the unvarnished truth about the actions of people who were powerful enough to shape the discourse and threaten “civilization.”
Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images
But Musk has seemingly rewritten rules on the fly to justify suspending less-sympathetic journalists—and in the case of Lopez, hasn’t offered a justification at all. Further confusing the issue among Musk’s wave of suspensions is whether a Twitter account sharing publicly available information (and yes, even with Musk’s plane having a Privacy ICAO Aircraft Address—also known as a PIA—it is still public info) about the location of his private jet constitutes “doxxing.” Specifically, the question remains whether such info enabled anyone to track Musk (or his family) leaving the airport, and then follow the car transporting them—as Musk has alleged.
The Post notes that the L.A. incident Musk has complained about took place at “a gas station 26 miles from Los Angeles International Airport and 23 hours after the @ElonJet account had last located the jet’s whereabouts,” adding, “Police have said little about the incident but say they’ve yet to find a link between the confrontation and the jet-tracking account.”
It’s entirely possible that Musk genuinely believes Collado posed a mortal threat, and that @elonjet was a tool in his arsenal. He may also be sincere in his belief that the account doxxed him, and that reporters giving any oxygen to the account are guilty of the same offense. And there might be a very good reason for his heretofore silence on whether he’s taken the first, most basic legal step—filing a report with the police—to hold Collado accountable for what he alleges is a very serious crime.
But, given the chaos and confusion surrounding this incident and its subsequent fallout, Musk should take this as an opportunity to hold himself to the same standards he’s demanded of others.
He should be forthcoming about his legal actions addressing the alleged stalking incident. He should be transparent about the policies he’s creating (and just as quickly disposing of) that infringe upon the free expression of people he perceives as his opponents. In doing so, Musk could demonstrate that he demands of himself the same standards he’s excoriated others for failing to uphold.
Put your reputation where your mouth is, Elon. Tell us whether you’ve put your allegations in writing, in a police report. And tell us what the rules of your “Free Twitter” are, because at this point—it doesn’t seem as if even you know.
