Federal prosecutors in Dallas have dismissed the criminal case against a former U.S. Marine who allegedly sent a seizure-inducing Twitter message to a Newsweek journalist who published negative articles about then President-elect Donald Trump.
At the request of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas, U.S. Magistrate Renee Toliver has dismissed cyber-stalking charges against John Rayne Rivello, a 30-year-old Maryland resident who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Houston attorney David Gerger, who represents Rivello, told The Texas Lawbook in an exclusive interview that the federal charges simply did not meet the facts alleged and said the case needed to be dismissed.
Gerger, a partner in the Houston office of Quinn Emanuel, said his client enlisted in the Marines at age 19, and served in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he recovered bodies of fallen Americans from the battlefield.
Rivello received the Navy and Marine Achievement Medal for his war service and was discharged with documented post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Gerger.
Rivello still faces state aggravated assault charges in Dallas County for allegedly sending a flashing animated image via Twitter last December to former New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald in an attempt to cause the Dallas-based journalist to have a seizure.
Court records state that Eichenwald, who is the author of several books, including The Informant and Conspiracy of Fools, had just finished appearing on Fox News with Tucker Carlson arguing about Eichenwald’s bias against Trump when he received the message on Twitter.
The Twitter image included the following message: “You deserve a seizure for your post.”
Eichenwald and his wife, according to court documents, claim the image caused the writer to suffer an eight-minute seizure. He also sued Rivello for unspecified damages.
Gerger, a partner in the Houston office of Quinn Emanuel, said it is the first known case of someone being officially charged with aggravated assault using a single Twitter message. He said the federal charge did not meet the facts in Rivello’s case because the law requires “a pattern of electronic messages intending or threatening to cause serious bodily harm.
The statute doesn’t fit the allegations, Gerger told The Texas Lawbook.
“[Rivello] is thrilled that the DOJ dismissed this exaggerated case,” Gerger said. “Incredibly, he still faces a state case and a civil suit for money, and we hope reason prevails in those as well. “