On Monday , a Texas distinguished jury charged a Maryland man with “ aggravated rape with a virulent weapon ” after authority say hetweeted an recreate flashing GIFdesigned to trigger off Newsweek diary keeper Kurt Eichenwald ’s epilepsy last year , “ immediately ” make him to have a seizure .
29 - twelvemonth - old John Rivello was arrested in Salisbury , Maryland on federal cyberstalking charge last week . After transmit Eichenwald the GIF in December , Rivello allegedly messaged another Twitter substance abuser say “ I go for this sends him into a seizure ” and “ have ’s see if he dies . ” Another message sent by Rivello allegedly say “ I do it he has epilepsy ” and authorities say a hunting of his iCloud account found a photoshopped version of Eichenwald ’s Wikipedia pageboy with his appointment of death redact to be December 16 , about when the GIF was sent .
agree to the felonious ailment , Eichenwald ’s married woman took the picture of his notification tab seen below , showing the GIF that allegedly trip Eichenwald ’s epilepsy .
This is his married woman , you have a seizure . I have your data and have called the police force to report the assault .
— Kurt Eichenwald ( @kurteichenwald)December 16 , 2016
Last week , Rivello was charged with violating federal cyberstalking laws , but using a GIF as a “ deadly weapon ” is a testament to how far internet refinement has devolved . In 2017 , multitude apparently have burner iPhones dedicate to trolling Twitter , which they employ with ostensibly unfeigned hopes of inflicting harm via GIF . It ’s only die to get bad from here .
X ( Twitter )
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and culture news in your inbox day by day .
News from the future , delivered to your nowadays .
You May Also Like
