Arrest Made In Seizure-Inducing GIF Case
The FBI has arrested a man who allegedly tweeted a seizure-causing GIF at a epileptic journalist.
A man has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly tweeting a GIF of flashing colors at an epileptic journalist.
Kurt Eichenwald, a senior writer for Newsweek who can be … confrontational … on Twitter, said on Friday that an arrest was made in the case. Last December, someone with the Twitter handle “@jew_goldstein” tweeted a GIF at Eichenwald with flashing lights and the words “you deserve a seizure” on it. Eichenwald has epilepsy, which he publicly reveal a decade ago as the reason why he forgot he gave hundreds of dollars to a man who was involved in a child pornography ring in the course of his reporting for a New York Times article.
Half an hour after the GIF was tweeted at Eichenwald, someone purporting to be his wife tweeted from his account that the GIF had indeed caused Eichenwald to have a seizure and that the police would be contacted.
@jew_goldstein This is his wife, you caused a seizure. I have your information and have called the police to report the assault.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 16, 2016
Many scoffed at this, believing that it was not possible for a tweet to be a criminal offense. Some even sent more flashing light GIFs at Eichenwald even as he pressed charges and prepared a civil lawsuit against the unknown Twitter account. Vocativ spoke with a lawyer, Keith Lee, who said that it may seem strange, but a criminal case for assault could be made against @jew_goldstein — even if Eichenwald did not have a seizure after all.
Lee wasn’t sure that a civil lawsuit would be successful, but wondered if Eichenwald was using pre-suit discovery motions to compel Twitter and internet service providers to reveal @jew_goldstein’s true identity. In the end, that didn’t matter. Eichenwald withdrew the lawsuit after, he said, @jew_goldstein was identified by other means.
On Friday, a triumphant Eichenwald engaged in a short tweetstorm about the arrest — and warned that other arrests may well follow. Eichenwald said several law enforcement agencies were involved in the case against @jew_goldstein, from the Dallas Police Department to the Department of Homeland Security.
After a 3 month investigation, the FBI this morning arrested the man who assaulted me using a strobe on twitter that triggered a seizure.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 17, 2017
He currently faces federal charges & is expected to also be indicted by the Dallas District Attorney on different charges in next few days.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 17, 2017
Identifying information about every person who sent me strobes after finding out about the assault is currently in the hands of the FBI.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 17, 2017
More than 40 ppl sent strobes once they found out they could trigger seizures. Details of their cases are with the FBI. Stop sending them.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 17, 2017
I want to thank Dallas Police, Dallas DA, US Attorney in Dallas, the FBI & the Dept of Homeland Security who all played a role in this case.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 17, 2017
The FBI, which confirmed an arrest was made to Gizmodo, has yet to release the alleged true name of @jew_goldstein, nor which charges he faces.