The Bud Light debacle has had residual effects on other businesses, with Target being the most notable example.
Now, a company that manufactures gun safes is facing backlash after it was reported the company provided the FBI with the combination to a safe owned by an alleged January 6 participant.
Liberty Safe, which touts itself as “America’s #1 heavy-duty home and gun safe manufacturer,” is facing outrage from customers after it was revealed the company submitted to a federal warrant and provided the access code to the safe belonging to one of its customers, 34-year-old Nathan Hughes, the New York Post reported. Hughes was arrested on August 30 for his alleged involvement in the Capitol siege on January 6, 2021.
“Our company’s protocol is to provide access codes to law enforcement if a warrant grants them access to a property,” the company said in a statement.
“After receiving the request, we received proof of the valid warrant, and only then did we provide them with an access code.”
The company claimed ignorance about the case details against Hughes when they gave the code to the FBI.
Liberty’s problems began on Sept 4, when popular conservative hosts Keith and Kevin Hodge—the Hodge Twins—told their audience about it on X, formerly Twitter, Fox News reported.
“Last week, a friend of ours was raided by the feds over J6, his name is Nathan Hughes, and he’s from Fayetteville, Arkansas,” the post read. “The feds called the manufacturer of his Liberty Gun Safe and got the passcode to get into it, too. All for protesting at the Capitol over 2 ½ years ago.”
Hughes confirmed the Hodge Twins’ account of the story the next day, also on X. He wrote that Liberty Safe gave the FBI “a master code to get into my gun safe.” He continued, “Pretty crazy, didn’t know safe companies would do that, so I feel like a lot of our gun safes are not actually safe.”
Liberty continued in their statement, “Liberty Safe is devoted to protecting the personal property and 2nd Amendment rights of our customers and has repeatedly denied requests for access codes without a warrant in the past. We do not give out combinations without proper legal documentation being provided by authorities.”
Liberty’s statement did little to appease critics, many of whom asked for a “Bud Light-style” boycott against the safe manufacturer. Bud Light has famously been boycotted since March when it hired a radical trans-activist, Dylan Mulvaney, to promote its brand.
This led Bud Light’s core customer base, primarily conservative males, to boycott the brand. It has resulted in Anheuser-Busch losing billions in market cap while the brand has dropped from the #1 selling beer brand in the US to out of the top ten.
“[A]bsent a court order, you weren’t required to give them anything,” wrote Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist. “You voluntarily gave out a combination over a warrant, per your own release, that didn’t apply to you or your property. Maybe start marketing your stuff as Bud Light storage.”
“No safe company should ever have access to the property of their customers, let alone sell them out to the feds,” wrote Michael Seifert, founder of conservative online marketplace PublicSq on X. “It’s an unbelievable breach of privacy. Give them the Bud Light treatment."
Calls for a boycott continued last week, with users posting angry messages to Liberty’s X account. The pushback caused the company to release a three-page statement late last week.
Liberty Safe sought cover, writing it “has long adhered to industry standards by maintaining a secure database of factory-set combinations,” claiming it is a “courtesy” to customers. The company offered customers the option to go to their website and “fill out the form to have records of their access codes expunged.”
“We have also revised our policies around cooperation with law enforcement,” the statement reads. “Going forward, we will require a subpoena that legally compels Liberty Safe to supply access codes, but can only do so if these codes still exist in our system.”
According to Newsweek, Conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk was having none of Liberty’s apology.
“Your guns are not safe in a Liberty Safe. Return them immediately,” Kirk wrote on X. “They will give your passcode to the feds.”
Another X user, @CannConActual, wrote: “So a code, outside of the buyers own, exists for your safes? Perhaps change your name to ‘Kind of Safes.’ Who else has access to their thousand dollar safe they bought to just to hold cheap garbage, I’m sure. Nope. Sell your Liberty Safe.”
On Facebook, Shelly L. Curry wrote, “Your guns are not safe in a Liberty Safe. Return them immediately. Cancel any orders. They will give your passcode to the feds. Just ask Nathan Hughes.”
Now, a company that manufactures gun safes is facing backlash after it was reported the company provided the FBI with the combination to a safe owned by an alleged January 6 participant.
Liberty Safe, which touts itself as “America’s #1 heavy-duty home and gun safe manufacturer,” is facing outrage from customers after it was revealed the company submitted to a federal warrant and provided the access code to the safe belonging to one of its customers, 34-year-old Nathan Hughes, the New York Post reported. Hughes was arrested on August 30 for his alleged involvement in the Capitol siege on January 6, 2021.
“Our company’s protocol is to provide access codes to law enforcement if a warrant grants them access to a property,” the company said in a statement.
“After receiving the request, we received proof of the valid warrant, and only then did we provide them with an access code.”
The company claimed ignorance about the case details against Hughes when they gave the code to the FBI.
Liberty’s problems began on Sept 4, when popular conservative hosts Keith and Kevin Hodge—the Hodge Twins—told their audience about it on X, formerly Twitter, Fox News reported.
“Last week, a friend of ours was raided by the feds over J6, his name is Nathan Hughes, and he’s from Fayetteville, Arkansas,” the post read. “The feds called the manufacturer of his Liberty Gun Safe and got the passcode to get into it, too. All for protesting at the Capitol over 2 ½ years ago.”
Hughes confirmed the Hodge Twins’ account of the story the next day, also on X. He wrote that Liberty Safe gave the FBI “a master code to get into my gun safe.” He continued, “Pretty crazy, didn’t know safe companies would do that, so I feel like a lot of our gun safes are not actually safe.”
Liberty continued in their statement, “Liberty Safe is devoted to protecting the personal property and 2nd Amendment rights of our customers and has repeatedly denied requests for access codes without a warrant in the past. We do not give out combinations without proper legal documentation being provided by authorities.”
Liberty’s statement did little to appease critics, many of whom asked for a “Bud Light-style” boycott against the safe manufacturer. Bud Light has famously been boycotted since March when it hired a radical trans-activist, Dylan Mulvaney, to promote its brand.
This led Bud Light’s core customer base, primarily conservative males, to boycott the brand. It has resulted in Anheuser-Busch losing billions in market cap while the brand has dropped from the #1 selling beer brand in the US to out of the top ten.
“[A]bsent a court order, you weren’t required to give them anything,” wrote Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist. “You voluntarily gave out a combination over a warrant, per your own release, that didn’t apply to you or your property. Maybe start marketing your stuff as Bud Light storage.”
“No safe company should ever have access to the property of their customers, let alone sell them out to the feds,” wrote Michael Seifert, founder of conservative online marketplace PublicSq on X. “It’s an unbelievable breach of privacy. Give them the Bud Light treatment."
Calls for a boycott continued last week, with users posting angry messages to Liberty’s X account. The pushback caused the company to release a three-page statement late last week.
Liberty Safe sought cover, writing it “has long adhered to industry standards by maintaining a secure database of factory-set combinations,” claiming it is a “courtesy” to customers. The company offered customers the option to go to their website and “fill out the form to have records of their access codes expunged.”
“We have also revised our policies around cooperation with law enforcement,” the statement reads. “Going forward, we will require a subpoena that legally compels Liberty Safe to supply access codes, but can only do so if these codes still exist in our system.”
According to Newsweek, Conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk was having none of Liberty’s apology.
“Your guns are not safe in a Liberty Safe. Return them immediately,” Kirk wrote on X. “They will give your passcode to the feds.”
Another X user, @CannConActual, wrote: “So a code, outside of the buyers own, exists for your safes? Perhaps change your name to ‘Kind of Safes.’ Who else has access to their thousand dollar safe they bought to just to hold cheap garbage, I’m sure. Nope. Sell your Liberty Safe.”
On Facebook, Shelly L. Curry wrote, “Your guns are not safe in a Liberty Safe. Return them immediately. Cancel any orders. They will give your passcode to the feds. Just ask Nathan Hughes.”
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