Prosecutors eyeing OWS protesters' Twitter accounts
OWS march Credit: Getty
The Manhattan District Attorney wants to retroactively follow Occupy Wall Street protesters on Twitter.
The DA's office sent the social media site subpoenas asking for tweets sent by protesters between Sept. 15 and Oct. 31, inquiring what device was used to send them, and seeking other personal information, according to a protester who posted the documents online Monday.
"URGENT: The District Attorney in NY has subpoenaed my twitter account," protester Jeff Rae posted Monday, along with a link to documents allegedly sent by the DA's office to Twitter.
Rae was arrested in October during a march on the Brooklyn Bridge that resulted in 700 arrests.
Paul Mills, a lawyer from the National Lawyers Guild representing Rae, said he’ll tell Twitter not to comply and challenge the subpoena in court next week.
“I believe that the purpose of this subpoena is to intimidate people who are using Twitter to engage in First Amendment activities,” he told amNewYork Monday.
The Manhattan DA and a Twitter spokesman declined to comment on the subpoenas Monday.
This is not the first occasion protesters’ accounts have been eyed by prosecutors. A lawyer for another protester challenged a similar request last month.
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