Man Arrested, Sues City Over Parody Twitter Account

A seemingly harmless Twitter parody account led to a real-life armed house raid, seized property, an arrest, and now a lawsuit.

On April 15, seven police officers raided a man's house in Peoria, Illinois, in an effort to unmask him as the owner of a Twitter account parodying the city's mayor. Almost two months later, the owner of that account has filed a lawsuit against the mayor and other city officials for violating his constitutional rights on Tuesday.

As it turned out, Peoria's mayor Jim Ardis was upset that the fake Twitter account @peoriamayor (now suspended) implied he was a drug addict and someone who associated with prostitutes. Read more...