An Ohio blogger known as “The Rooster” was placed on trial for sending NSFW Shrek memes to a state senator. A jury simply discovered him responsible of telecommunications harassment in file time.
Cleveland Information 5 stories that it solely took Lake County jurors half-hour to resolve that D.J. Byrnes was responsible of taunting Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) with not one however two texted memes of Shrek holding his genitals. Whereas he confronted as much as six months in jail and a $1,000 wonderful, the decide within the case decreased sentence to court docket prices and a $200 wonderful.
Byrnes was reportedly harassing Cirino with the pics following a failed bid for Senate president. “There’s a line to be drawn between normalized interplay on points and coverage and votes and et cetera, that enable for settlement and disagreement and many debate on an expert foundation,” the senator stated in a previous interview. “There’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed.”
Effectively. Shrek has made his debut on the display right this moment.
Over the trial, prosecution has emphasised ~repeatedly~ the state that Shrek is in, and the exercise he’s allegedly engaged in. pic.twitter.com/EuLMgus6xH
— Morgan Trau (@MorganTrau) October 9, 2026
A picture of the offending texts at trial was censored however appeared to indicate an image of bare Shrek with phrases beneath it studying, “Good to see you lastly made your last humiliation public, Younger Mussolini! The Patriots Caucus sends its regards!!!!!!!!!!”
The trial lasted two days, throughout which Byrnes tried to mount a free speech protection. One of many witnesses known as on behalf of the protection was a lobbyist named Bobby Ina. Cirino admitted to texting the lobbyist throughout the trial, which is a giant no-no. “You shared a voicemail with The Rooster? Significantly?” the textual content from Cirino learn, in accordance with Ina’s testimony.
When requested why he despatched the textual content to Ina, Cirino informed Cleveland Information 5, “Effectively, I assumed he was a good friend… I actually didn’t have any goals or something that I used to be attempting to perform; it was simply an expression of my shock.”
Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy for the free speech group FIRE, stated Byrnes ought to attraction. “The First Modification protects the precise to criticize authorities officers, even in crude or vulgar phrases,” he posted after the decision got here down. “If a single digital communication that annoys or alarms the recipient can quantity to legal harassment, that’s dangerous information for lots of social media customers!”
