Twitter user who created parody mayoral account settles suit over police raid of his home
Jon Daniel, center, speaks at a press conference announcing the case. Photos courtesy of the ACLU.
An Illinois man who created a parody Twitter account in the name of Peoria’s mayor has settled a First Amendment lawsuit against the city filed after a police raid on his home.
Plaintiff Jon Daniel will receive $125,000 in damages and attorney fees, report the Chicago Tribune, the Peoria Journal Star and a press release by the American Civil Liberties Union. The city has also agreed to issue a directive to police officers that the law against impersonation of public officials doesn’t apply to satire.
Daniel called the Twitter account @peoriamayor and used the official portrait of Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis. Daniel says his tweets about drugs, alcohol and prostitutes were intended as a joke. One tweet, for example, read, “Im bout to climb the civic center and do some lines on the roof who’s in.”
Police raided Daniel’s home in April 2014 with the aim of prosecuting him for “false personation of a public official.” The Twitter account had been shut down weeks before based on the city’s request.
Peoria does not admit liability in the settlement (PDF), which still needs city council approval.
