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Eichenwald had for safety reasons, decided to take a short break from Twitter to spend time
with law enforcement and lawyers to see if he could go after the individual behind the account,
18
which took away from one of his main responsibilities of working for Newsweek.

As of today, the user behind the Twitter account has been identified as John Rayne Rivello,
living in Maryland. He currently in custody and suspended from Twitter indefinitely. Mr.
Eichenwald has been working with law enforcement and lawyers pursuing the now active case
against Mr. Rivello. As of late, the Criminal Complaint was unsealed and made available to the
public.

B. Did Mr. Rivello “Cyber Stalk” Mr. Eichenwald Under the Federal Cyber-Stalking
Statute 18 U.S.C. §2261?

th
The Complaint filed on March 10 , 2017, charged Mr. Rivello under the federal cyber
19
stalking statute (“Statute”). The Statute reads as follows:
Whoever…

(2) with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance
with the intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate another person,
uses…an interactive computer service or electronic communication
service…to engage in a course of conduct that—

(A) places that person in reasonable fear of the death of or serious
bodily injury to…that person, an immediate family member of that
person, or a spouse or intimate partner of that person or

(B) causes, attempts to cause, or would be reasonably expected to
cause substantial emotional distress to a person described in (A)

shall be punished as provided in section 2261(b) of this title.

 18 U.S.C. §2261(A)(2)(A)/(B).

www.mediaite.com%2Fonline%2Fkurt-eichenwald-claims-twitter-troll-gave-him-seizure-taking-social-media-
hiatus%2F
18 Id.
19 18 U.S.C. §2261(A)(2)(A)/(B)
99 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – May 2017 Edition
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