Sarah Tate Chambers on Lawfare summarizes the Rivello and Steele cases (the latter featuring a Minnesota rogue lawyer), which are crimes enabled by the Internet. Here’s some detail on the case against Mr. Rivello:
On December 15, 2016, Kurt Eichenwald received a tweet from Twitter user @jew_goldstein that a flashing strobe GIF superimposed with the text, “YOU DESERVE A SEIZURE FOR YOUR POSTS.”
When Eichenwald viewed the tweet, he did in fact have a seizure, which lasted for eight minutes. According to the New York Times, he lost feeling in his left hand and had trouble speaking for several weeks afterwards. …
Three days after Rivello was arrested on federal charges in Maryland, the State of Texas, where Eichenwald lives, indicted Rivello on the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, defining the deadly weapon as “a Tweet and a Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) and an Electronic Device and Hands.” The state attached a hate-crime enhancement, claiming that Rivello targeted Eichenwald primarily because of Rivello’s prejudice against Jews, as defined either by faith or descent. The significance of this enhancement is underscored by the anti-Semitism displayed by some of those who have rallied behind Rivello.
It may sound funny, but it’s a reality, and so long as we have the Internet and self-playing files, these sordid expressions of hate will continue. I suppose the silver lining is that at least we know the cockroaches of society do still exist and how to find them, but it’s not much consolation.
