https://old.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/kslo0n/announcement_reddit_admins_have_removed_and/

Hello all,

Today the mod team was approached by the reddit admins who let us know that they have, sua sponte, removed u/axolotl_peyotl as our head moderator and suspended his account (meaning the top mod position has now switched to the next mod on the list). AP was a long standing member of the mod team and someone who many on the mod team considered a close personal friend (having been alongside us in the report queues every day for almost a decade).

In the interests of full disclosure, the message we received from the site admins was as follows (admin username withheld to protect indvidual privacy);

Hello mods,

[We’re reaching out today to inform you that we've permanently suspended the top moderator u/axolotl_peyotl for repeated violations of our content policy. We hope this doesn’t cause too much disruption in your community or modteam, especially given recent events. While we do not make these decisions lightly, we need to ensure that moderators are not inciting their communities in ways that break our content policies.](https://i.imgur.com/4I09GtU.png)

[Please do not add that person back to your mod team under any new accounts. We’d also like to take this opportunity to remind you all of our moderator guidelines and our content policy to ensure all of you understand them going forward.](https://i.imgur.com/4I09GtU.png)

Thank you.

AP's final message to the community, as others have noted on the subreddit, can be found via this post.

In so many ways, and for so many reasons, today's decision by the site admins is one which is heartbreaking; AP's commitment to this community, and to his friendships with his co-mods, was unparalleled.

Be it standing up to meta brigades, defending the mod team throughout a range of difficult situations, going to bat for the subreddit in the face of unjust removals or otherwise, AP was always willing to go the extra mile in defense of the free flow of information. Such a tireless effort has no doubt left an inedible imprint on the sands of time that will not soon be forgotten.

Beyond that important work, AP was a friend (and a good one at that) not only to myself, but also to any of the other moderators or subreddit users who needed an ear or someone to help work through a difficult problem. I cannot count the number of times that a user from this community sent AP a private message at 3 or 4AM, in a desperate state and in need of anyone who would listen, only for AP to spend hours talking with them. AP would never reveal what was discussed during those sessions, but an occasional passing remark about how much it meant to him to be able to help people in that way made clear his passion for those kind of interactions (and for this community).

AP's dogged pursuit truth, for so many years, alongside his unending loyalty and friendship stands as a living testament to what this kind of community can be at its very best and it is with a heavy heart that I write this post today.

Thank you, u/axolotl_peyotl, and Godspeed,

The /r/conspiracy mod team