One of the most outrageous moments in an election season full of them happened on Thursday night. A Donald Trump supporter thought it would be a bright idea to send Newsweek reporter Kurt Eichenwald a GIF with flashing strobe lights on Twitter. The troll was well aware that Eichenwald has battled epilepsy for years, and openly hoped to give him a seizure. It worked. However, Eichenwald isn’t taking this lying down. He has vowed to make this deplorable answer for an act that, by any definition, is a criminal assault.
Eichenwald didn’t mess around. On Monday, he asked Texas district court judge Bonnie Lee Goldstein to order Twitter to reveal the identity of the troll who sent him that GIF, and also sought to depose a Twitter representative about this dreadful crime. Just before the close of business on Monday, Goldstein granted Eichenwald’s request in full.
Twitter agreed to an expedited order in our effort to locate the user who intentionally caused me to have a seizure. https://t.co/FOb0DGnyyw
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
Goldstein granted Eichenwald’s attorneys the right to send Twitter written questions regarding the identity of the person behind “@jew_goldstein” (no relation) the troll responsible for causing him to get a seizure. That account was suspended within hours of his attack.
Eichenwald will also be able to find out the identities of anyone who “acted in concert” with @jew_goldstein. To that end, Goldstein ordered Twitter to preserve “any and all information and documents”–including IP addresses–for @jew_goldstein and any potential cohorts. Just before Goldstein went to her keyboard, Twitter informed her that it would comply with any and all orders related to the case, as if it had a choice.
If the deplorable who sent Eichenwald that GIF is reading this, you’d better enjoy this coming holiday weekend. It may be the last one you have as a free (wo)man for a very long time. While the current court order is related to a planned civil suit Eichenwald plans to file, he has also been in contact with the Dallas police, who are also looking into whether this was a cross-state crime. So you’d better have a lawyer on speed dial–you’re going to need one very soon.
He may not be the only one. A number of other deplorables have bombarded Eichenwald with strobe GIFs on Twitter. Here’s a screenshot of one of them.
But they won’t be at it for long.
Finally, a notice to those now sending strobes. We are getting your accounts canceled, one at a time. So if u want to stay on twitter, stop.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
I’ll go one better. If you want to stay out of jail and stay out of poverty, STOP IT.
Ironically, these bottom-feeders did a very good job of justifying why Eichenwald is taking this step. Sending a GIF with flashing lights to someone with epilepsy, knowing that it could cause a seizure, is as heinous as you can get. It’s happened too many times to count, but it usually has the effect of bludgeoning the victims into silence. It’s time someone stood up for them. The signal must go out that this behavior is not only unacceptable, but criminal.
Eichenwald also revealed just how damaging this seizure was.
It was an intentional crime. I got injured and was laid up in bed for 24 hours. Because a guy didn't like my coverage of Trump.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
@ChrisRBarron you're correct. I cannot drive for at least three months. Another lovely present from that guy.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
You would have thought that, just this once, this would be a time to put political labels aside. Apparently not. A number of Trump supporters have pooh-poohed Eichenwald’s ordeal, leading Eichenwald to roll his eyes at what he was seeing.
How have so many ppl become such sociopaths that they think its ok to assault someone if they write political stories they don't like?
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
Look at how many Trump followers seem to think its funny or deserved that someone used my disability as a weapon. Whats wrong with them?
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
We’d all like to know, Kurt. Unless the scum who did this to you has a really good answer to that question–and I don’t think there is one–he will be in jail for a very long time.
(featured image: screenshot courtesy MSNBC via Mediaite)
