Page 97 - Cyber Warnings

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Enter the pending case of United States vs. John Rayne Rivello, recently filed in the United
States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

A. Can the Use of a Social Media Platform Such as Twitter Be Modified in Such a Way
That It Could Be Construed as a “Deadly Weapon?”
Not all weapons are tangible items like a gun or a knife. Distance does not, and should not
change the analysis here. The effect is the same. The distinction to be made here is that the
platform itself is not the weapon. It is the manner of use and/or the manipulation of that platform
in such a way that it becomes an instrument of inflicting harm. The Rivello case which will set
this distinction out, has roots reaching back to October 2016.

1. A Seizure Heard ‘Round the World: How a GIF Sent Via Twitter Induced a
Seizure from Dallas Journalist, Kurt Eichenwald
Kurt Eichenwald, a Dallas journalist and senior writer with Newsweek, gained national attention
back in October 2016, resulting from an article exploiting then, presidential candidate, Donald
Trump’s conflicts of interest internationally as it pertained to allegations that Russia has
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manipulated U.S. information to gain political advantage. Resulting from critiques he was
receiving in response to his article, Mr. Eichenwald then followed up with an article about how
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Donald Trump supporters attack journalists on a daily basis. He revealed publicly, that he has
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“intractable epilepsy.” However, he pointed out that one pro-Trump supporter, or “deplorable”,
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took a potentially dangerous step further. Mr. Eichenwald, explained that he had received a
tweet from a Twitter user with the Twitter handle “@Mike’s Deplorable AF” which referenced his
known seizures and included a small video of Pepe the Frog, a cartoon character that has been
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identified as a hate symbol. Logged into his Twitter account on his iPad, Mr. Eichenwald hit the
play button on the still video which opened to a ‘sort of strobe light, with flashing circles and
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images of Pepe flying toward the screen.’ Luckily, he was standing and dropped the iPad to
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the ground, avoiding any potential trigger of a seizure.” Mr. Eichenwald made note that this
[was] not the first time a journalist such as himself has been targeted by a ‘deplorable’, but
indicated that [he] would be extra careful and not push play on any unsolicited videos he
receives.”
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1 See Criminal Complaint, United States of America v. John Rayne Rivello, 3-17MJ192-BK
2 http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/23/donald-trump-foreign-business-deals-national-security-498081.html
3 http://www.newsweek.com/epileptogenic-pepe-video-507417
4 Id.
5 This word was coined from Hillary Clinton’s statement on September 9 , 2016, at a New York fundraiser: “To just
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be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?
Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophohic, Islamphobic, you name it.” The term as depicted in the dictionary is used as
an adjective, but as of this statement, it’s now starting to be used as a noun; see for reference https://www.merriam-
webster.com/news-trend-watch/clinton-says-half-of-trump-supporters-are-in-a-basket-of-deplorables-20160910
6 http://www.newsweek.com/epileptogenic-pepe-video-507417
7 Id.
8 Id.
9 Id.
97 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – May 2017 Edition
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