Daily Mail– A Texas Trump supporter who allegedly tweeted a flashing gif at an epileptic Newsweek journalist has been indicted on a ‘deadly weapon’ charge.
John Rayne Rivello, 29, of Salisbury, Maryland, has been indicted on an aggravated assault charge enhanced as a hate crime for sending the image to journalist Kurt Eichenwald in December.
The tweet, allegedly sent by Rivello in response to Eichenwald’s criticism of then-president-elect Donald Trump, read ‘You deserve a seizure for your posts.’
Rivello used ‘a Tweet and a Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) and an Electronic Device and Hands, during the commission of the assault,’ the indictment read, according to CBS News.
Those constituted a ‘deadly weapon’ aimed at the openly epileptic journalist, the jury decided.
It also said that Rivello targeted Eichenwald, who writes critical opinion pieces on Trump for Newsweek, because he was a person of ‘Jewish faith or descent.’
The tweet was sent after an interview on Fox News when Eichenwald was grilled over a tweet he posted last September claiming Donald Trump suffered a nervous breakdown in 1990 and was institutionalized.
Eichenwald deleted the tweet soon after but was criticised over its lack of supporting evidence.
According to an unsealed criminal complaint highlighted by Heat Street, Eichenwald suffered an eight-minute-long full bodily seizure and loss of consciousness after seeing the flashing image.
His wife was able to put him in a safe position on the floor before calling police, the document said.
She also tweeted using his account: ‘This is his wife, you caused a seizure. I have your information and have called the police to report the assault.
I swear man, people get so savy on the Internet. Always finding new ways to do things. I get that we might not have street smarts anymore or be the most courageous of generation. But they got a few tricks up there sleeves that make you say “Wow, I never thought to do it like that before.” Case and point, You couldn’t get at reporters back then besides writing a scathing hot op-ed piece to send in to News publications and hope they run it. Now a days, simple. Ill just tweet you something that can trigger your mental illness and just hope you die. It’s so diabolical too because you know they see the tweets when it just pops up, there’s just no controlling it. It’s like when people use to show others the infamous “Two Girls, One Cup” Video. Instant video boner killer but it was on the internet and once some one made you watch it , you had to show someone else to see their reactions. And you know they have to watch it cause it has hot chicks in it doing hot stuff up until the point where there’s feces being exchanged. But in this case, instead of getting turned off and disgusted saying “What the fuck, Ewwwww GROSS!! Turn That shit off,” you’re brain will just decide to fire off neurons that will send you on the floor shaking like an old motel clothes dryer. You couldn’t do anything like that back in the days. What were you gonna drag one of those old heavy projection television sets with a VCR to play flashy lights on it? No, but the internet my friends, it’s a gift and a curse. One second you’re checking your retweets and mentions, the next you’re on your sides shaking violently with no control over your mind and body. Skull emojis for all 140 characters because it actually could’ve killed the man. An absolute diabolical tweet.
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