'Killercop' Twitter account suspended after Los Angeles police union sues owner

Twitter suspended the account of anti-police website killercop.com for violating the social media platform's rules against inciting violence after a Los Angeles police union sued the website's owner for allegedly offering a "bounty" for slaying police officers. 

Twitter suspended the @killercop1984 account following the lawsuit filed last week by Los Angeles Police Protective League, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The union said the account's owner, Steven Sutcliffe, wrote, "Remember, #Rewards are double all year for #detectives and #female cops," and included an image of a bounty for murdering an LAPD officer, according to the lawsuit.

Sutcliffe said that officials are trying to curtail his First Amendment right to free speech. On his website, he wrote that there are no "bounties" but it is "a lie currently being fed to the public by the LAPD."

"We are appreciative of Twitter acting swiftly to take down this dangerous website that called for the murder of Los Angeles police officers," Los Angeles police union president Craig Lally said. "This was not about freedom of speech or public discourse, this was about protecting officers and their families and for that we are grateful that this site is suspended."