Twitch BANS PogChamp Emote After Face of Emote Mourned Death of Ashli Babbit

Last Updated on February 17, 2022

Twitch has banned the PogChamp emote from its site after the face of the emote mourned the death of Ashli Babbit, the victim of the Capitol shooting.

Ashli Babbit, a 14-year veteran of the Air Force, was fatally shot by DC Police in the Capitol Building on Wednesday, as thousands of patriots stormed the building, angry at the betrayal by numerous Republicans, including Mike Pence, for not stopping the certification of Electoral College votes from states with severe election integrity issues.

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National File reported on Babbit’s death earlier today. An eyewitness said that the police officers moved out of the way of the door of the Senate chambers: a window was broken in the Capitol Building, and Babbit started to climb up, and was shot by a “man in the suit”:

As she had both feet in the windowsill, her hands were on the sides of the window, a man inside, not a uniform, he had a suit on, fired one shot, hitting her up in this region somewhere [indicates to neck]. She fell out of the window. The police that were there would not let me assist. I am trained in emergency medical services. They would not let me assist… They pushed me out of the way, and I stood there and I watched this young woman die.

Gootecks, the face of the PogChamp global emote on Twitch, was one of the many who mourned Babbit’s death, referring to her as the #MagaMartyr, before her identification. “Will there be civil unrest for the woman who was executed inside the Capitol today or will the #MAGAMartyr die in vain?” Gootecks tweeted.

The streamer later posted the graphic footage of her death from InfoWars, saying it is “important for everyone to see this video because we don’t know how it will try to be spun or suppressed, and she gave her life for our country. RIP #MAGAMartyr.”

https://twitter.com/gootecks/status/1346945377568653312

https://twitter.com/gootecks/status/1346958623113572354

PogChamp is a global emote on Twitch, which allows all users to post it in all streams. The emote, along with the phrase “Poggers” and “PogChamp” are often used by savvy internet users to express delight in an exciting moment on a stream, or off the platform as well.

In response to Gootecks’s mourning of Babbit, Twitch, in a statement posted to Twitter, said that they have decided to remove the PogChamp emote “following statements [from Gootecks] encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today”:

We want the sentiment and use of Pog to live on – its meaning is much bigger than the person depicted or image itself– and it has a big place in Twitch culture. However, we can’t in good conscience continue to enable use of the image. We will work with the community to design a new emote for the most hype moments on Twitch.

We've made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today.

— Twitch (@Twitch) January 7, 2021