Politics

DHS senior staffer’s Twitter account goes into hiding after pro-May Day tweet

Matthew Boyle Investigative Reporter
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The Twitter account of a Department of Homeland Security senior staffer who publicly cheered for socialist “May Day” protests has been removed from public view, just one day after The Daily Caller reported on the incident.

On Tuesday evening, Nate Snyder, the special adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for “Community Partnership and Strategic Engagement,” tweeted “Happy May Day! #solidarity.”

May 1, known in left-wing circles as May Day, is an observance when socialist party faithful and labor unions have traditionally held massive anti-capitalist protests. On Tuesday some liberal organizers used the occasion to rekindle the Occupy Wall Street movement’s flames.

Snyder’s Twitter account also no longer displays his original self-description as an “Obama administration official at DHS.”

Though his account is now private, TheDC has confirmed that Snyder’s tweeted praise of the May Day festivities was also deleted.

DHS representatives did not immediately respond to TheDC’s request for comment on why Snyder’s account was locked away from public view, what role the department had in that decision, and whether disciplinary action will be taken against Snyder. (RELATED: Homeland Security official tweets socialist applause: ‘Happy May Day’)

Snyder has had his current Homeland Security post since March 2011, according to his LinkedIn page. He was previously the department’s deputy White House liaison. Before joining the Obama administration, he worked for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Snyder lists no law enforcement experience on his Twitter page, leaving it unclear what his qualifications may be for a senior position in the Department of Homeland Security. He does, however, have a political past.

On LinkedIn, Snyder writes that his official duties duties include “[w]orking to build partnership with communities, local governments, law enforcement, and international partners to counter violent extremism and violent crime and build resilient communities by focusing on information driven community based solutions that look at a ‘whole of government’ approach.”

He describes his post as the “Counterterrorism Working Group staff and CVE [Countering Violent Extremism] Working Group lead for the Department of Homeland Security.”

DHS representatives also wouldn’t say if it is common for Napolitano’s DHS to hire people with no law enforcement experience, but whose policy and political experiences align with the president’s, for senior administration roles in sensitive areas.

See the tweet:

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