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Fake Mayor Twitter Account Leads to Police Raid

posted by LaminatorX on Thursday April 17 2014, @04:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the I-Miss-Fake-Steve-Jobs dept.

EvilSS writes:

Police in Peoria, IL raided the home of a 27 year-old resident who set up a parody Twitter account for the Peoria mayor. The raid did not result in any arrests, but computers and phones were seized and the residents questioned. The police are investigating the account for breaking a law forbidding "impersonating a public official". If the case moves forward, the alleged owner of the account, Michelle Pratt, could face a $2,500 fine and up to a year in jail.

Even if it is eventually dropped, this could have a chilling effect on satirical political speech and seems like a massive overstep by a local police force to save face for an elected official.

 
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  • (Score: 1) by gishzida on Thursday April 17 2014, @08:19PM

    by gishzida (2870) on Thursday April 17 2014, @08:19PM (#32820) Journal

    Seems to me that such a law is a violation of the 1st amendment.... and ultimately it is not enforceable when not in Peoria... so let The Onion, Jon Stewart, Colbert, SNL, and the rest of the comedians all become the Peoria Mayor.

    Or we could all send him little love notes: "Poor, Poor Peoria Mayor, Jim Ardis... Did you get you're itty, bitty ego tweeked? Did it hurt so much that you had to start a police investigation which now has cost your city thousands of dollars and suppressed the right of your citizens? You sir are a jerk and a waster of public funds. Go get a real job."

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 17 2014, @09:23PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 17 2014, @09:23PM (#32834)

    "I'm Jim Ardis, and so's my wife!"

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 17 2014, @11:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 17 2014, @11:09PM (#32882)

    so let ... the ... comedians all become the Peoria Mayor.

    I'll pass, I'm not looking to get arrested over bullshit charges that'll ultimately be dropped, at significant cost to me, my wallet, my family, etc. Which is exactly the effect they were going for.

  • (Score: 1) by dare on Friday April 18 2014, @06:47AM

    by dare (307) on Friday April 18 2014, @06:47AM (#32989) Homepage

    As the mayor of Peoria, I disapprove of this idea.

    --
    From bad to worse in .2 seconds!