Family of Cape Coral man killed in ISIS attack sues Twitter

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FORT MYERS, Fla.- The family of a Southwest Florida man shot and killed in an ISIS attack is suing Twitter, saying the company has knowingly permitted ISIS to use its social network to raise money and recruit.

Carl Fields, 46, of Cape Coral was one of eight people killed on Nov. 9 when a police captain in Jordan opened fire. Fields was overseas serving as a contractor at a police training center.

The lawsuit says as of a year ago, ISIS had an estimated 70,000 Twitter accounts and that Twitter has not cooperated with the United States to close any of those accounts.

Twitter responded Thursday in a statement that said: “Violent threats and the promotion of terrorism deserve no place on Twitter.”

But the 17-page civil lawsuit uses strong language that points to a different reality. The lawsuit alleges that ISIS uses Twitter “to crowdsource terrorism” and “to sell murder.”

Unprecedented in its allegations, the lawsuit continues in its claims, saying that ISIS could not have grown without the help of Twitter. The family is calling Twitter “instrumental in the rise of ISIS,” which they say is tied to the untimely death of their loved one.

In addition, the suit claims that the murder of Fields has caused his wife “severe mental anguish, extreme emotional pain and suffering.”

ISIS has been able to recruit more than 30,000 recruits in the last year, according to the lawsuit.

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