The FBI has arrested a Twitter user who allegedly gave Newsweek senior writer Kurt Eichenwald a seizure by sending him a blinking animated GIF, Gizmodo reported Friday. The arrested man used the handle @jew_goldstein.
The incident happened in December 2016, amidst criticism of Eichenwald’s blustering, politically centered Twitter persona. Eichenwald was under attack online for bragging about telling a third-party voter, “You’re lucky it’s illegal for me to punch you in the face,” and for an incident involving alleged threats against a young journalist. Then he appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, where he was raked over the coals for tweeting unproven speculation that Donald Trump had been committed to a mental institution in 1990.
On Dec. 15, @jew_goldstein, apparently reacting to the tweets featured on Tucker Carlson Tonight, wrote, “YOU DESERVE A SEIZURE FOR YOUR POSTS.” He attached a strobe-light GIF that, Eichenwald alleges, gave him a seizure. Eichenwald had previously written about suffering from epilepsy.
At the time, this tweet appeared on Eichenwald’s account:
This is his wife, you caused a seizure. I have your information and have called the police to report the assault.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 16, 2016
Shortly afterward, he temporarily quit Twitter, claiming he wanted to investigate the GIF-poster. That move helped him win the 2016 Shittiest Account on Twitter Tournament, which was decided by popular vote.
Eichenwald asked Twitter to reveal @jew_goldstein’s identity, but withdrew his motion in January because “we know who he is.”
In case of guy who caused my seizure, we've withdrawn only motion 4 twitter 2 identify him cause we know who he is. https://t.co/1xk1LEhxwZ
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) January 11, 2017
On Friday, Eichenwald tweeted that the suspect was in custody and facing federal charges, a fact Gizmodo later confirmed with the FBI in Dallas. Eichenwald claims the man will face additional charges from the Dallas District Attorney:
He currently faces federal charges & is expected to also be indicted by the Dallas District Attorney on different charges in next few days.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 17, 2017
Sending strobing GIFs on Twitter is now, apparently, a federal crime.
More than 40 ppl sent strobes once they found out they could trigger seizures. Details of their cases are with the FBI. Stop sending them.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 17, 2017