A naked Shrek meme landed an Ohio political blogger in court in a case that has raised concerns about free speech.

D.J. Byrnes was found guilty Friday of telecommunications harassment after sending a Republican state senator an explicit meme of the cartoon character Shrek.

Byrnes is a Columbus-based political blogger who goes by the name “The Rooster.” He’s known for his irreverent humor and coverage of Ohio politics. His Instagram account has amassed more than 46,000 followers and features videos of him hounding lawmakers at the statehouse.

But he apparently flew too close to the sun in May when he sent Republican state Sen. Jerry Cirino a series of text messages, calling him “Young Mussolini.”

The messages also included an explicit image of Shrek. According to an affidavit accompanying the arrest report, the cartoon character was depicted as “fully nude with an exposed and erect humanlike penis engaged in an act of masturbation.” You can see it for yourself here, but fair warning that it comes as advertised.

It turns out Byrnes and Cirino have some history. The blogger has repeatedly criticized the senator and claims his coverage played a role in Cirino losing his bid to become Ohio Senate president.

After Cirino officially dropped out of the race, Byrnes taunted him with the text messages and Shrek meme on May 6.

Two days later, Cirino emailed Kirtland Police Chief Jamey Fisher to file a harassment complaint against Byrnes, according to Signal Ohio.

“Not only is the message harassing but the disgusting picture is pornographic in nature and not something I want to see on any of my devices,” wrote Cirino in the email.

Source link