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.
(Score: 1) by Rune of Doom on Thursday April 17 2014, @09:54PM
We can exercise our pedal veto while we still can. I'm looking at Canada myself. (It's not perfect, but it's better than here and gets you a Commonwealth passport.
As for the article, "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" seems like par for the course in 21st century America.