D.J. Byrnes, a political blogger known as The Rooster, spent nearly a day locked in an Ohio cell over something anyone would call a crude joke: he sent state senator Jerry Cirino edited photos of Shrek, the green ogre from the animated movies, in a compromising pose.
Cirino did not laugh. He reported the messages as pornography and harassment, and police ended up arresting Byrnes right at the state Capitol. He now faces a telecommunications harassment charge that could cost him up to six months behind bars, all over a phone number the senator could have blocked with a single tap.
A free speech advocacy group has already come out to warn what is at stake: if a silly meme can land someone in jail, anyone who mocks a politician on the internet should start worrying. Where does the joke end and where does the abuse of power to silence it begin?
