How a Power-Mad Illinois Mayor Launched a Police Crusade Against a Parody Twitter Account

[n2doc]

On the night of April 15, police in Peoria, Illinois, raided the house of my friend Jon Daniel in response to his operating a parody Twitter account mocking Peoria mayor Jim Ardis. The incident sparked a media firestorm, with Peoria all of a sudden being covered by national outlets like Al Jazeera and the Washington Post, and Ardis was condemned for what looked like a clear violation of the First Amendment. (Daniel is not being charged with any crime in connection with the Twitter account because, obviously, it’s not illegal to mock a public official.)

What wasn’t clear at the time was how intimately involved Ardis and Chief of Police Steve Settingsgaard were in ordering the raid, but according to emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, city officials were so eager to nail the author of the parody Twitter account that they had a detective comb through Illinois statutes to find something to charge him with, in the process bungling the legal aspects of the case and drawing the ire of local citizens.

Ardis and others learned of the account on March 11 and sent dozens of emails over the next few days, apparently panicked by the idea that someone with a few dozen Twitter followers was making fun of the mayor. On March 12, Ardis himself asked City Manager Patrick Urich, “Any chance we can put a sense of urgency on this?” Urich passed that request on to Settingsgaard, saying, “Quickly please.”

On March 13, Ardis emailed Settingsgaard and told him he wanted to pursue criminal charges against whoever was running the account, @peoriamayor, apparently unaware that no crime had been committed. “I will absolutely prosecute,” the mayor wrote to the chief. “Bring it on.”

more

http://www.vice.com/read/how-a-power-mad-illinois-mayor-launched-a-police-crusade-against-a-parody-twitter-account

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Thankfully, this guy is a Republican. n/t

[Demeter]

2. Well, Rahm would have been much more effective, what with all his connections...

at throwing the twitter in jail....

[ConservativeDemocrat]

4. Can there be a single DU post about Republican malfeasance

...without someone slandering a Democrat?

Is that too much to ask?

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[hobbit709]

5. Rahmbo is a Democrat like I'm a millionaire.

[Demeter]

9. I was going to say--Rahm is a Democrat? Since when? Actions speak louder than labels

[MohRokTah]

6. On DEMOCRATICUnderground?

Apparently not.

Sad, but true.

[Demeter]

10. Since when is complimenting a mayor on his authoritarian ways slander?

[ConservativeDemocrat]

12. Clearly the answer is no

Next question. Will the hate filled trolls ever get tired of their act?

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[arely staircase]

32. you can almost set your watch by it. nt

[msanthrope]

7. I dislike the false equivalency schtick. I know why disreputable media outlets take every

story about Republican wrongdoing and counter with the meme "but Democrats do it to!" but I truly, truly wonder why a member of Democratic Underground would do so.

I mean...why would you spoil a perfectly good story about Republican malfeasance in this manner?

[Louisiana1976]

3. Excellent post. K&R

[McCamy Taylor]

8. When will they learn, you can't buy publicity like this.

[TeamPooka]

11. First they came for my tweets.... nt

[riqster]

26. This^^^

[TeamPooka]

31. ty

[struggle4progress]

13. Fallout over fake Twitter account painfully real for the one man arrested

<19 April 2014> ... Jacob Elliott ... was the only one arrested when seven police officers .. served a search warrant at his home Tuesday as part of an effort to unmask the author of a fake Twitter account that parodied Mayor Jim Ardis. But Elliott wasn’t the culprit. His name merely appeared on the Comcast account for Internet service to 1220 N. University St. A roommate, Jon Daniel, actually created @Peoriamayor on March 9 at the house and tweeted enough profanity to raise the real mayor’s ire. Now Elliott faces this reality: a felony charge of possessing 30 to 500 grams of marijuana, an indefinite suspension from a job he’s worked for 14 years, a life turned as inside-out as his bedroom that police tossed ...
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140419/News/140418756

[whistler162]

23. So Ardis and Daniels act like morons

and Elliot gets the shaft due to a small amount of drugs.

[struggle4progress]

24. I'm having some difficulty sorting out the exact facts here

It seems clear that mayor was grumpy about the twitter account, and local law enforcement seems to have gotten warrants from two judges, one warrant against the ISP and another against Twitter, to reveal information about the customer of the ISP and the owner of the Twitter account: these turned out to be different people. The Twitter account was subsequently designated a parody and was later shut down. However, government attorneys (at both state and local levels) have since said that the Twitter account violated no state law -- so it's not really clear on what grounds warrants were sought against the ISP and Twitter, nor is it clear why judges would issue warrants if there was no violation of state law

The raid seems to have been based on a third warrant, issued by a third judge, and the raid apparently occurred several weeks after the Twitter account was no longer active. News coverage here is conflicting: some coverage suggests the raid warrant allowed search related to both the so-called impersonation (now not considered a crime?) and alleged drug possession; other coverage indicates the raid warrant merely allowed a search for drugs

Unfortunately complicating the story is the fact that a FOIA request for government materials related to the warrant (or warrants?) appears to have only incompletely honored, with the government asserting no further information will be forthcoming there

So now there are all sorts of possible scenarios, and it might matter somewhat whether the police were investigating the address in connection with alleged drug-law violations before the mayor became upset about the so-called impersonation. If the drug case goes to trial, for example, one might expect such questions as Was the mayor's irritation about the Twitter account a development of an on-going drug investigation? or Did the drug investigation develop from the investigation of a Twitter account that upset the mayor?

[struggle4progress]

14. ... At-Large Peoria Councilman Chuck Weaver ... questioned why the search warrant

started with looking for drugs ...
6:30 am
Wed April 23, 2014
Peoria faces court of public opinion on First Amendment
By Tanya Koonce

[struggle4progress]

15. A quick rundown of the Twitter scandal

<25 April 2014>

... About March 10, city officials, including Mayor Jim Ardis, learned of a Twitter account labeled @peoriamayor that used the mayor’s photo and email address to tweet profanity-laced screeds about sex and drugs. On March 11, the city’s legal department began the process of having Twitter shut down the account, and Ardis lodged a complaint with the Peoria Police Department. Someone with access to the @peoriamayor account removed Ardis’ email address and labeled the account a parody shortly after the complaint was lodged. Within about two weeks, Twitter had suspended the account ...

... police decided to pursue the matter as an alleged misdemeanor violation of impersonating a public official.

Under that law, a detective sought three search warrants: one to Twitter to acquire the IP address that created the account; one to Comcast to determine the physical location of that IP address; and a final warrant to search that house for cocaine, heroin, drug paraphernalia, and electronics and other items that may have been used to commit the crime of “false personation of a public official.”

Police sought and received the final search warrant for the house from Judge Kim Kelley several weeks after Twitter had shut down the account ...

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140425/News/140429226

[Ikonoklast]

16. Looks like the police found the marijuana they carried in with them.

They set that guy up.

[Make7]

17. I don't even understand what drugs have to do with impersonating a public official.

Is that public official a drug user? So much so that impersonating them requires one to partake?

I can't see how this whole incident doesn't lead to a lawsuit.
[div style="width:100%; height:1.5em; border-bottom:1px solid #bfbfbf;"]
Hell, I only came in here to make a joke about the Mayor being pissed at The Onion.
 

[struggle4progress]

18. Warrant shows Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis wanted Twitter parody culprits tracked down

<17 April 2014>

... Two judges signed off on warrants to get information from Twitter and Comcast. Another judge approved a Tuesday afternoon raid of 1220 N. University St., which led to one arrest for marijuana possession but no charges related to the Twitter account or any of the posts.

Jacob Elliott, 36, of the University Street address, was held on $3,000 bond for marijuana possession. Elliott, who has no criminal record, was released from Peoria County Jail on Thursday. His next court date is May 15 for a preliminary hearing.

According to the charge, Elliott was accused of possessing between 30 and 500 grams of marijuana. No mention was made during his five-minute hearing Thursday about the Twitter account ...

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140417/News/140419023


... Judges Kirk Schoebein, Lisa Wilson and Kim Kelley all signed off on warrants ...

[hughee99]

22. Why would he need to use drugs to commit the crime of “false personation of a public official”?

Is Rob Ford the mayor of Peoria too?

[struggle4progress]

19. No charges coming against creator of fake Mayor Ardis Twitter account

<23 April 2014>

PEORIA — No charges will be filed against the people who created a fake Twitter account that cast Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis in a negative light, the county’s top prosecutor said Wednesday.

A review of state law indicates the account holders of now-shuttered Twitter account @peoriamayor didn’t break the law because the actual crime alleged, “false personation of a public official,” has to be done in person, not over the Internet or other electronic media, said State’s Attorney Jerry Brady.

“At this time, no, because subsection (b) doesn’t include the use of electronic media,” he said.

Essentially, Brady said it was clear the account impersonated Ardis, but the fact that the it was done over the Web meant there wasn’t a crime committed, according to state statute ...

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140423/News/140429547

[n2doc]

29. The drug charges are still pending

I personally believe that they were planted, but even if not, there should not be any charges because the search warrant was invalid.

[struggle4progress]

30. The person charged with drug possession didn't own the parody Twitter account but

lived at the same address and was the customer whose ISP was used to access the Twitter account (if I understand correctly)

[PeaceNikki]

20. We should schedule a conference call with Asher Heimermann on this.

He's known for this type of thing.

http://www.620wtmj.com/podcasts/news/newstogo/134362923.html

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

21. Hey Mr. Mayor,

You are a public official. Grow a thicker skin!

[MineralMan]

25. Way to Call Attention to Yourself, Mayor Ardis!

Please proceed. Now, stories about what a moron you are will circulate throughout the Internet, perhaps spawning much worse attacks on your phony-baloney mayoralty.

When will these idiots learn? Or, maybe, we shouldn't wish them to learn.

Here, Mayor Ardis: Click this link and see what has happened:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Peoria+mayor+Jim+Ardis

[MissMillie]

27. Power-hungry people can never seem to laugh at themselves

Did you notice that?

[Gothmog]

28. The mayor is going to get sued and he will lose

The mayor is an idiot for taking these actions