OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The father of Twitter CEO Elon Musk is terrified for his own life, his son’s life and the life of their family.
It comes in the wake of the Tesla CEO releasing the Twitter Files, which showed the government speaking with former Twitter executives to censor certain speech.
“He decided, after the recent threats against him, that I need protection as well,” his dad, Errol Musk said in an interview with The Sun.
“If they kidnap one of us, it will be the quickest $20million anybody’s ever made in their life.
“I think Elon’s a bit naïve about the enemies he’s making, especially with the Twitter Files,” he said.
“I’m not scared but I’m really afraid that something might happen to Elon, even though he has about 100 security guards around him,” he said.
“I think it’s a matter of time before one of the people he will expose with the Twitter Files says, ‘I don’t want to go to jail, take Elon out.’ It’s not rocket science,” he said.
Errol says that due to the increased threats against Elon, his son’s team ramped up security measures at his home last month.
They include a high-tech camera system, electrified fencing, and around-the-clock monitoring by guards who are “armed to the teeth.”
“Elon’s people contacted me to say they wanted to completely secure my house,” Elon Musk’s dad said.
“I got a notice in December from this security company saying that they have instructions to secure the house.
“So I now have nine cameras around the house that are monitored 24/7 and that I can monitor on my phone and TV,” he said.
“They’ve also installed an electric fence around my house.
“I have first-class security now. It’s unbelievable,” he said.
“It has everything, including backup power, so it works whether we have electricity load shedding or not.
“They’ve installed everything imaginable here.
“I now have a quarter of a million rand ($14,600) security system with armed response by a new security company in my town, which I hear is quite good,” he said.
“They focus 100 percent on me. It’s a new, super big security company armed to the teeth.
“They check on me all the time. If they see a strange car in my driveway, they come in and ask me if I’m alright.
“I hate living like this, but I’ve lived like this in Johannesburg and Pretoria, and I understand where it’s coming from,” he said.
He said that he is concerned about an attempt being made on his life.
“Frankly, the risk of something bad happening or literally even being shot is quite significant,” Elon Musk’s dad said.
“I’m definitely not going to be doing any open-air car parades, let me put it that way.
“It’s not that hard to kill me if somebody wanted to, so hopefully they don’t,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump appears to be on his way back to Twitter and Facebook. After he was banned indefinitely from Facebook two years ago, and since his announcement of his campaign for president, his team has formally requested Facebook restore his accounts, NBC News reported.
“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” his campaign said in a letter to Meta Facebook’s parent company, on Tuesday, which was reviewed by NBC News.
Trump’s campaign didn’t threaten a lawsuit, as some sources close to Trump thought he would. It instead talked about the importance of free speech and petitioned Meta for a “meeting to discuss President Trump’s prompt reinstatement to the platform.” A Meta spokesperson declined to comment about Trump beyond saying the company “will announce a decision in the coming weeks in line with the process we laid out.”
Facebook initiated a ban after the January 6, 2021, incident at the Capitol that was to be reviewed again starting on January 7 of this year.
“Trump is probably coming back to Twitter. It’s just a question of how and when,” a Republican who spoke with the former president but prefers to remain anonymous said. “He’s been talking about it for weeks, but Trump speaks for Trump, so it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do or say or when.”
“Another Trump confidant who also didn’t want to be identified speaking about conversations with him said that Trump has sought input for weeks about hopping back on Twitter and that his campaign advisers have also workshopped ideas for his first tweet,” the report said.
“Some advisers said Trump might be limited in posting on other social media platforms now that he has founded his own, called Truth Social. Truth Social declined to comment about any alleged limits, and a spokesman for Trump said the campaign believes he’ll be able to return to Twitter as before,” it said.
