By Lauren C. Williams | Think Progress
Police raided a home last week in Peoria, IL, over a fake Twitter account that mocked the city’s mayor.
Jon Daniel, 28, and his housemates were accused of impersonating Mayor Jim Ardis via the parody Twitter account, @peoriamayor. The seldom-used account, which used the mayor’s likeness and email, had a few dozen followers with just as many tweets, many referencing sex and drugs. Twitter shut down the account, but Ardis still had police descend on Daniel’s house with a broad warrant to search for drugs and paraphernalia along with any electronic devices that could have been used to operate the account. No one was charged with “impersonating a public official” — the sole basis for the raid — but police seized computers and arrested one roommate for marijuana possession.
If you’d like to discuss cyber law, contact Chris Ingle, chairman Rose Law Group Cyber-Law Department, cingle@roselawgroup.com
