Carl Benjamin is a British YouTuber better known under the name “Sargon of Akkad.” Earlier this week, Sargon of Akkad was one of the controversial figures who were banned from Patreon, when the crowdfunding site purged a number of its users. Milo Yiannopoulos and an American blogger named James Allsup were also banned from the site. Sargon’s supporters are up in arms about the ban, although his critics say they are “giddy” with delight about it and are calling the ban long overdue.
Patreon eventually explained its decision to de-platform Sargon of Akkad; you can read more about that here.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. He Is Married With Children & Lives in Swindon, England
Benjamin, 38, lives in Swindon with his wife and their two children. His supporters say that Patreon has been his main source of income; it’s not clear whether he has another job besides his work as a commentator. Benjamin uses the name “Sargon of Akkad” (the name was inspired by a Mesopotamian ruler from the 2nd century BC) for his YouTube videos.
Sargon of Akkad’s YouTube videos tend to attack political correctness and identity politics. He describes himself as a “classical liberal” and often rails against political correctness, identity politics, and what he sees as the “hysteria” of the mainstream media. He has been called an anti-feminist and a misogynist, among other things; he himself has described feminism as a “cancer” attacking society. Carl Benjamin is a member of the populist, right-wing Ukip political party.
2. Sargon of Akkad Was Earning More Than $12,000 a Month from Patreon Before His Ban
Patreon has now banned Milo Yiannopoulos and Carl Benjamin (Sargon of Akkad): t.co/JWrxTZ6xEf @Patreon
On Thursday, December 6, the crowdfunding site Patreon announced that they were removing Sargon of Akkad from their platform. Two other Patreon users — Milo Yiannopoulos and James Allsup — were banned from the site on the same day. Patreon explained that it was banning a Yiannopoulos because of his allegedly connection to the Proud Boys. But the site did not explain why they were deplatforming Benjamin or Allsup.
Vice News reported that before his ban, Benjamin was earning $12,000 a month from the site. It’s not clear whether Benjamin has another job; his followers have said that Patreon was his main source of income.
3. He Tweeted That He ‘Wouldn’t Even Rape’ Certain Member of Parliament
In 2016, a Member of Parliament named Jess Philips revealed that she had once been raped. Philips launched an online campaign to promote awareness of violence against women and to make the internet a safer place for women and girls.
In response, Philips became the center of a huge trolling campaign — a campaign which Sargon of Akkad was a part of. Philips reported that in just one night she received 600 tweets about her rape. Some of the tweets threatened to rape her. Others told her that she wasn’t worthy of being raped.
Sargon of Akkad’s account was taken down after the tweets about Philips, but the Daily Mail captured some screenshots (you can see those here). He wrote, “I wouldn’t even rape you, @jessphillips.#antirapethrewts #feminismiscancer.”
4. He Describes Himself as ‘The Thinking Man’s Alt-Centrist
UKIP Leader @GerardBattenMEP sitting down with Carl Benjamin AKA Sargon of Akkad to discuss the current state of Brexit, UKIP and this Sunday’s pro-Brexit march and rally in London.
Sargon of Akkad likes to position himself as a “rational” voice struggling to be heard above the “hysteria” of political correctness. His Twitter account calls him “the thinking man’s alt-centrist, but he also describes himself as a “classical liberal.” Sargon often talks about the “stupidity” or “hysteria” of what her perceived as identity politics gone mad. He gets worked up over feminism, in particular, often describing it as a “cancer” attacking society.
One of his recent YouTube videos, for example, mocks the so-called “British Waterboarding Scandal.” In late November, a 16 year old boy attacked another boy at school, grabbing him by the neck, dragging him to the ground, and pouring water on his face. The victim was a refugee from Syria. The British press d3cribed the incident as “waterboarding” and called the attack “sickening.” Sargon said that it was just a “schoolboy tussle” and that calling the incident “waterboarding” was a wild overstatement.
Carl Benjamin is a member of the Ukip political party. He is a backer of Brexit. He was also passionately interested in the latest French presidential election, tweeting constantly in favor of the far-right candidate Marine LePen and about her interest in a “Frexit,” or French exit from the European Union.
5. Sargon’s Supporterd Are Calling His Patreon Ban Just Another Example of Censorship
Seeing that Carl Benjamin (Sargon of Akkad) is apparently banned from Patreon. Following Alex Jones being disappeared & Tim Cook’s Orwellian remarks, I’d say watch the moving goalposts on words like “Hate Speech”. I believe in my heart, that this is war on dissent more than hate.
After Patreon banned Sargon of Akkad, his supporters took to Twitter to complain about what many perceive as political correctness run amok. One user compared Patreon to “new-Nazis,” adding,
“Hi @Patreon – by banning Sargon of Akkad (depriving a father of his main source of income right before Christmas, how lovely) you are actually silencing a classical liberal who has debated & opposed the far-right innumerable times. Reverse this monumentally stupid decision now.”