Conservative TV host’s show canceled after Parkland survivor threat

NEW YORK — A conservative commentator who tweeted that he would use “a hot poker” to sexually assault a 17-year-old survivor of a Florida high school shooting has resigned from a St. Louis TV station. Sinclair Broadcast Group spokesman Ronn Torossian said in a statement Monday that Jamie Allman’s resignation has been accepted and his KDNL-TV show canceled.

“His show is canceled and he is off the air immediately,” Torossian said in the statement, according to CBS St. Louis affiliate KMOV-TV.

Allman hasn’t responded to messages from the Associated Press seeking comment.

Businesses pulled advertising from Allman’s shows after he sent the March 26 tweet targeting David Hogg.

Hogg has strongly advocated for stricter gun control since 17 people were killed in the Feb. 14 mass shooting at his school in Parkland, Florida.

Allman was absent Monday from his show on KFTK-FM. The radio station’s owner, Emmis Communications, hasn’t responded to an email asking about Allman’s status.

Sinclair, whose corporate leadership leans right, owns nearly 200 local stations.

It had recently ordered its anchors to read a statement expressing concern about “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing the country.” Some outlets publish these “fake stories” without checking facts first and some people in the media push their own biases, the statement said. No specific examples were given.

Late last month, Deadspin posted a video with dozens of news anchors reading the statement. The 98-second video was viewed by millions of people and provoked a tweet by President Trump supporting the corporation.

Hogg has also been the subject of tweets by Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham. She tweeted Hogg had whined about not getting in to some colleges he had applied for.

Hogg responded by suggesting that people offended by Ingraham’s remark contact her advertisers.

Some 19 companies responded by saying they wouldn’t air commercials on Ingraham’s show.

Ingraham was on vacation for a week after apologizing via social media for her tweet.

She returned to work with defiance Monday, denouncing a “Stalinist” effort by liberals to stifle the free speech of conservatives and promising to make fighting it her new cause.