Kurt Eichenwald alleges he was physically assaulted by a tweet
Your Honor – He hit me right between the eyes with a tweet
You remember Kurt Eichenwald?
Okay, so the name doesn’t ring a bell.
You remember the famous meltdown on Tucker Carlson’s Show followed by Tweet Storm?
Mark wrote about it yesterday: ‘I Think You May Be Coming Undone, Kurt’: MSNBC Contributor’s Bizarre Carlson Show Appearance.
The Blaze reports on the fallout on Twitter, Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald filing charges against Twitter user who caused him to have a seizure:
Newsweek senior writer Kurt Eichenwald announced Friday afternoon via Twitter that he is taking a hiatus from the social networking site following a bizarre appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Thursday evening.
After the contentious conversation with Carlson, Eichenwald fired off dozens of since-deleted tweets, most of which were incoherent, in response to the interview. And one alt-right Twitter user, allegedly aware of the Newsweek reporter’s epilepsy, sent him a flashing gif with the words “You deserve a seizure for your posts.”
The troll’s account has since been suspended, but not before it caused Eichenwald to have a seizure, the writer’s wife claimed.
@jew_goldstein This is his wife, you caused a seizure. I have your information and have called the police to report the assault.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 16, 2016
Early Friday afternoon, Eichenwald returned to his Twitter account to announce that he is working with his lawyers and law enforcement to identify and charge the anonymous social media user who attacked him.
For self-protection, I am taking a short twitter break. I will be spending that time with my lawyers & law enforcement going after 1 of u…
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 16, 2016
Again, I will not be seeing your comments or tweeting for awhile except to upload copies of litigation and police documents.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 16, 2016
Your Honor, he hit me with a Tweet right between my eyes https://t.co/WggdfT5yeS
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) December 17, 2016
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Comments
We used to have institutions to care for people as obviously deranged as Eichenwald is. Oh, wait…
How is it that everything and anything said by Tucker Carlson becomes a headline on so many websites?
The same way SNL clips and John Stewart’s comic facial expressions have in the past — he’s entertaining people. It’s like retweeting things.
Perhaps because he confronts them on backing up what they said or wrote and when they don’t…it’s a headline. Makes sense to me.
Tucker is grabbing headlines because Leftists keep coming on his shows and disgracing themselves.
Come up with some leftists that aren’t complete moonbats for a change, and Tucker won’t get credit for spotlighting their hysteria and insanity.
Think of it as a search for Lot. Surely, there is one sane Democrat out there?
[jeopardy theme]
“Come up with some leftists that aren’t complete moonbats for a change…”
Unpossible.
Epileptics really do have seizures caused by strobing lights. I was all set up to mock Kurt Eichenwald myself, but if he really has epilepsy (probably a matter of medical record) and if the sender guessed or knew it, Eichenwald is right.
Putting powderered peanuts in my drink would be a prank only worth making any fuss about if it’s part of a pattern. Putting powdered peanuts in the drink of someone allergic would be assault at the least.
Don’t let the prevalence of snowflaked blind you to the fact that some people really do have unusual vulnerabilities.
Agreed, much as this guy deserves to be called to account for his sleazy allegations that’s no excuse to cause him to have a seizure, something which could lead to serious injuries under the right conditions.
Both of you should really educate yourself on Photosensitive epilepsy, see my rather lengthy post below. The chances of him actually being a photosensitive epileptic are about the same as winning the lottery. (3% of epileptics world wide and much less common in adults.) Also the chances of someone knowing he is a photosensitive epileptic, especially with the security of medical records today, are even worse. Then there is the factor of someone knowing the pattern and intensity needed to spark a seizure. Even with that, one would assume that the man is medicated which reduces the chances of any seizure even happening.
So for this to be malicious it would need to be a person who knew of his condition and sent a meme of the exact pattern and intensity to make him have a seizure. Even then it wouldn’t be assured because he is most likely on anti-seizure meds.
More likely this man realizing what an ass he had made of himself let his emotional state spiral, as indicated by his tweets, and worked himself into a seizure.
Sorry, I don’t buy his story about having a seizure. First of all, within minutes, literally of said seizure, someone purporting to be his wife uses his Twitter account to say he had a seizure. One would hope that Twitter would be the least of their problems at the same time he is having a seizure.
Second, don’t know how many of you are aware of Eichenwald’s scandal when he reported on the Justin Berry story for the Times in 2005. He paid $3000 to a child porn site before he did a story on Justin Berry who was appearing on the site, but didn’t tell the Times he had done so.When he was caught, he claimed his epilepsy caused him to forget that he paid out to the child porn site- not once but twice. He was eased out of the Times after that.
The guy has a screw loose. Methinks he is projecting when he talks about Trump being in a mental hospital and taking amphetamines. There is something clearly VERY wrong with Eichenwald right now. He’s on his way to a psychotic break
In other words, he’s a nucking fut.
Seizures generally don’t cause damage to people unless they fall and hurt themselves.
Pop up ads on the computer frequently strobe–should the advertiser be prosecuted if the ad causes an epileptic seizure? I see where you’re going, but this is not that same as a physical attack. If someone emails a picture of mohammed to a islamofascist terrorist who then goes on a murderous rampage, is the person who sent the offending picture culpable?
While this may well be unsympathetic of me I really don’t understand why it is the responsibility of the poster who sent the gif to protect Eichenwald from his own medical issues.
Who protects him from random strobe ads/ gifs from those who are unaware of his reaction? If Eichenwald’s seizures are that easily triggered it seems like he should have a filter on his computer or have his wife open his email.
“But your honor, I didn’t know the Tweet was loaded.”
From the interview with Tucker Carlson, it appears to me that Kurt Eichenwald’s neck is overtaking his face.
he had to consciously make a decision to view that tweet.
stupid excuse.
I’m afraid I don’t see a lot of “hyuk, hyuk” here.
So how is this different from mailing someone a package containing a bacterial contamination? Or, say, an envelope of weaponized spores. Or a letter bomb. The fact that Postal Service regs aren’t involved in e-mail doesn’t strike me as significant.
The conscious intent to cause physical harm would seem to be the crime here. And it is a crime (right?) no matter how much of a jerk the victim may be.
Personally, I have no idea if triggering a epileptic episode counts as “harm”; fortunately I’m not afflicted with that condition. But from the cases I’ve seen, I wouldn’t file this in “harmless prank” category.
E-mail, Tweets, whatever.
You assume he’s not lying. Perhaps to change the subject after embarrassing himself on national TV.
More generally, if there really are people getting hurt by flashing ads and the like — someone ought to come up with an “ad-blocker” equivalent that blocks such flashing lights for people with a sensitivity. It’s hardly a subtle effect, so it should be easy for software to identify and block it.
Because the chances of random person even knowing he might be a photosensitive epileptic are astronomical.
Or are you saying that someone with malicious intent sent him a flashy hoping he would have a seizure?
More likely the seizure, if it happened, was brought on by his emotional state. That is a hell of a lot more plausible than the flashy causing it.
Here is the fact about adult seizure patients, even with the best care, medications, and interventions that we can give they WILL have another seizure, period. Photosensitive Epilepsy in adults is very, very, rare and in a long term seizure patient is normally a well known factor in their disease process and we in the medical community tell them flat out that if they chose to expose themselves to this type of stimulus then they are taking a risk of causing a seizure. We do this because it would be cruel to expect them to live in a dark room the rest of their life.
However to view this as an attack is bordering on paranoid delusion.
What happened with the tweet? I don’t believe his story.
Kurt Eichenwald is just another lefty gone off the deep end to stop Trump. He is not reporting news. He is spinning news.
Eichenwald completely lost it after Tucker Carlson’s Show.
Professor, I think that unless you know of evidence that Eichenwald is full of it in regard to his (or his wife’s) claim of a seizure, your post and your tweet are beneath you.
If I’m off base, please elaborate.
Boy who cries wolf claims wolf attack.
Villagers denounced for treating a known liar with contempt.
Ding Ding Ding! You have been awarded 10 Virtue Points for expressing empathy and compassion. Level up. You are now a Righteous Dude.
[Pearl Clutching 2.1 is for entertainment purposes only. Players are warned that Self-Esteem enhancements are valid only in the Pearl Clutching Fantasy Realm and do not transfer into normal life. Self-Esteem enhancements may be reset to base values or lowered below initial values as a result of national elections or other narrative-shattering events.]
How about the fact that the chances of him being an adult photosensitive epileptic are about as good as you and I winning the lottery back to back.
Um you might want to read up on the series of lies Eichenwald told to the Times after it was exposed he made a series of payments to a child porn site for the Justin Berry story. One of his many excuses was that as an epileptic, he couldn’t remember making the payments.
http://www.npr.org/sections/visibleman/2007/08/sex_checks_and_the_new_york_ti_1.html
The dude has SERIOUS problems
Wow, just…..wow. I have seen a lot of strange stuff in 21 years of Nursing, not once have I seen a pron seizure, much less a kiddie porn seizure, never even heard of a search the internet or credit card seizure, either.
Thank you.
So, to draw attention away from the crap he took on the front porch, Eichenwald takes a crap on the back porch.
I think an image of Hillary or Pelosi flashing would probably trigger a seizure in me.
Or at least a damn strong gag response.
And we know he had a seizure how? I mean he did look totally unhinged during the interview but other then he and his “wife” tweeting he had one it’s just hearsay.
Honestly he looked and sounded like a man who had been conditioned for months by an intelligent service to become a Trojan Horse. The way he was going out of his way to mention the low paying CIA analysts, the hours they put into going through the data and the stars on the wall for the fallen agents was very disturbing. That and the modified training manual he kept pulling out that said Tucker Carlson’s falsehoods. That thing looked like it was professionally done and was a target briefing binder for an agent. Tucker should have called him on it and see if there was actual data or just a manual on working the slushie machine at 7-11.
It’s hard to believe it but we are already seeing TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) before President Trump is officially sworn in. It must be a record.
We will likely never know if the image truly triggered a seizure. But it seems that he and his wife will say so. And whether this equates to sending harmful substances in the mail in the eyes of the law, I don’t know. Can you argue there was effectively a warning on the tweet where there isn’t usually a warning on mail in most cases (e.g. “This package will make you sick…” or something.)
To me one thing is likely – this is another demonstration of the desperation for the progressive narrative to be true. Just as we have seen so many “hate crimes”, Islamaphobic actions, etc., turn out to be contrived but elevated to a near national crisis, so this will be. “The Alt-right is violent and dangerous!!!”
Since they cannot prove it any other way, it must be fabricated. And the sad part is they are well funded as well as heavily supported to make it happen. The SPLC is just one example of where progressive dollars are at work to elevate the reputation of groups to be a major threat based only on hypothetical predictions. In other words, fabricated. And the non-monetary support surfaces every time the media promotes the stories no matter how little evidence, simply because it fits the narrative. I expect there will be a lot of words written in favor of Eichenwald if he continues his pursuit, and they will do everything in their power to publicly shame whoever the tweeter was and tie him in every way possible to Trump, the current political climate (divided), etc. It is THEM not US!!!
For all his flaws, the biggest relief I get from Trump actually winning is that this nuttiness and winning politics at all costs from the progressives now has the most intense spotlight it ever has. And Trump appears to be one who will not back down. If he continues to be unrelenting in fighting this media-induced and media-fueled nonsense I have more hope for our political differences moving more towards common sense – discussing ideas – and away from pure character assignation warfare. But I’m not holding my breath.
Except, 20 minutes after the offending tweet was posted, “his wife” was on twitter announcing to the poster that he had a seizure.
If someone you loved suddenly had a seizure, presumably at the computer, would you be tweeting accusations or getting him help? I imagine it would take more than 20 minutes to help the person recover enough to inform you what triggered the seizure (if one could even tell you that) and for you to investigate it and see exactly which tweet caused it.
I’ve dealt with seizures with a family member. Even if the seizure passes quickly and unless it was very mild, there is a period of disorientation that follows.
I think it is all BS.
Also, you mentioned “harmful substances” a flashy image is not harmful to healthy individuals. You can send peanuts in the mail without any sort of warning, but there is a very rare possibility someone with a peanut allergy is exposed. Does that make it criminal?
Even if you know someone has a peanut allergy and you send them a sealed bag of peanuts in a clear wrapper so everyone could reasonably know what is in the bag, is it criminal if the afflicted person opens it?
The strobing gif posted to Eichenwald said right on it “you deserve a seizure” in every fame, even when the gif was stopped (and before it started, if the autoplay was disabled). Any reasonable person with internet experience would know what it was. So does Eichenwald bear any responsibility for activating it?
These kinds of things almost always turn out to be hoaxes perpetrated by the “victim” to garner sympathy. The sequence of events makes it even more suspect, Eichenwald had just beclowned himself on national television.
I do not believe anyone sent him a flashing gif
I do not believe that was his wife, it was him posing as her
I do not believe he had any kind of seizure
Someone did send a flashing gif. I happened to be following along. This is all still nonsense though.
Kurt Eichenwald is the same guy who used an alt account to back up his allegation that Trump was using drugs.
So it’s likely he sent himself the strobing gif.
This idiot is the gift that keeps on giving 🙂
I know Kurt is lying. What man would let his wife have the password to his Twitter account?!
Yes, Photosensitive Epilepsy is a real phenomenon, however it is a very rare one, something like 3% of epileptics world wide.
“For about 3 percent of people with epilepsy, exposure to flashing lights at certain intensities or to certain visual patterns can trigger seizures.
This condition is known as photosensitive epilepsy.
More common in children and adolescents.
Becomes less frequent with age.”
http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/triggers-seizures/photosensitivity-and-seizures
See here are the problems with this dudes story.
1. It is rare and is not something that creeps up on you. I have a lot of experience taking care of seizure patients as a nurse for the past 20 years, I have encountered 3 photosensitive epileptics in the hundreds of patients I have taken care of.
2. It’s only certain intensities and patterns, now this is different from individual to individual, but the chances of a random flashing gif or video having the right intensity and pattern at just this specific time? Well I am not a statistician but I would bet the chance is way out there.
3. For people with history of epilepsy this is normally a known factor of their disease process. (i.e. it’s not just something that develops after you have had epilepsy for 20 years) When I took care of patients who were photosensitive epileptics, we had to limit their exposure to bright/flashing lights. 2 of these were teenagers and we didn’t keep them in a dark room for cripes sake.
4. While it can still cause a seizure in someone who is properly medicated for their disease process, being properly medicated greatly reduces the chances of this from occurring. (i.e. why we didn’t keep them in dark rooms and let them watch TV and whatnot, they were properly medicated.)
5. It gets less common as you age. So that 3% drops drastically if you narrow it down to just the adult population of epileptics.
So the chances of an adult epileptic, even a photosensitive, who is properly medicated having a seizure just because of a random meme flashing on twitter, especially at just the right time after his embarrassing interview on Carlson’s show, are astronomical at least.
Also, if he is a photosensitive epileptic, just like the ones I took care of, he is probably well informed that TV, movies, and things on the internet my cause a seizure so he takes those chances at his own risk.
From my experience, IF he really did have a seizure, I would guess it was brought on more by the emotional upset displayed in his tweets than any flashing random meme post on twitter.
Let’s not kid around. Tweets are brutal, lethal even, weapons.
Like hashtags. Look at how effective these hashtags were.
http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/commercials/2015/1/michelle-obama-bring-back-our-girls.jpg
http://www.redstate.com/uploads/2014/06/psaki1.jpg
The Navy isn’t exactly an infantry force, but I thought I had some training and experience in various fields of confrontation such as in Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (compliant, non-compliant, hostile or opposed [SEALs or Special Operations Capable Marines do the third one, although a non-compliant boarding can turn into a hostile boarding so Sailors who do this as a collateral duty have to know how to fight their way out]), Ship’s Reaction Force, and Auxiliary Security Force. I’ve qualified with the M1911, M9, M11, M14, M16, and M590 (and also the J-frame Smith & Wesson revolver back when the Navy was silly enough to issue that to aircrew but I’m a little embarrassed to mention it).
So I thought I knew a little about the escalation of force. The Community Organizer in Chief (COinCP) and his High School Yearbook Administration has taught me I knew nothing!
I mean, it’s so obvious now. For instance, the #UnitedForUkraine hashtag so powerfully warned off Putin that not only wouldn’t he annex the Crimea he would never, NEVER, dare to interfere with our elections. And howzabout Boko Haram releasing their sex slaves in fear of the next step?
The next step in the escalation of force is, according to the COinC, conversation. In his final presser the COinC said he had a conversation with Chinese president Xi in which he told his Chinese counterpart to quit with the hacking.
That had them quacking in their boots to the extent that our unarmed USNS research and survey vessels can now operate unmolested in the South China Sea without any concern that the PLAN is going to steal a submersible drone or something.
Then, oh boy, the next arrow is in our quiver is the John Kerry/James Taylor dynamic duo. And if that doesn’t make the Islamic State run and hide right quick we have the ultimate weapon in the COinC’s arsenal.
We’ll see your mass slaughter, Islamic State and raise you…
Wait for it…
A weepy candle light vigil!
Who knew I had all these options before going straight to he use of my command voice? I certainly didn’t.
Thanks America, for giving me all these useful insights.
I was hoping Legal Insurrection would get into the legal aspects of the case.
Would someone voluntarily on the internet where flashy gifs are a common expectation, and where there options to disable animations from automatically playing (Twitter does have that option), have a case against someone who posted an otherwise non-offensive and/or lawful image?
What would the status of the case be if a) the poster knew Eichenwald had epilepsy and that the image might trigger a seizure, or b) the poster knew Eichenwald had epilepsy but did not know a gif could trigger it, or c) the poster did not know Eichenwald had epilepsy?
Any lawyers want to help out explaining this?
I’ll say this, if you’re going to claim that you were injured by a seizure, you had better have some documentation from a health care professional that you really did have a seizure.
And if you’re going to claim you have Photosensitive Epilepsy, you better have some documentation of past occurances, plus an actual diagnosis from an M.D., specialized in the field, who’s willing to testify to that in court.
Otherwise it’s all just “She turned me into a Newt!!!”
The contrast between his tinder style profile picture and what he actually looks like on TV is comical.
Glad I wasn’t the only one to notice that…he went for the glamour shots.
There were definitely intentional gifs designed to induce seizures on his page the other day. That statement is just a clarification for those wondering if the post was intentional or not. They weren’t just from one person either…I think he chose to focus on one with his response tweets to deflect from his epic tv meltdown. Before this claim, he was claiming that people were threatening his kids on twitter…dude is unhinged.
I read all of this and his trending on twitter as a meme of ridicule and couldn’t help but die in laughter as it was a hilarious sight to behold.
Wife is tweeting he had a seizure 20 minutes later… wouldn’t they be at the hospital?
My sister has epilepsy, a quick glance or look at something flashing like that just isn’t enough time to cause a seizure. I suppose it is possible, but how long did Eichenwald stare at the darn thing? I saw the gif, it wasn’t that impressive. Seriously.
Things flash and strobe constantly on the internet. It is a way to get people’s attention to buy whatever they are selling. How has he survived the lifetime of the internet and only now just had a seizure?
He was on a news show with bright lights, loud sounds, and a high stress situation… and it was a gif that caused a seizure?
I’m sure the lefty loosies would attack me relentlessly for questioning this man’s health, but they are the same idiots that still think Hillary was perfectly healthy at the 9/11 memorial this year.
Well, his pattern suggests that if he posed as his “wife” on Twitter, it’s likely he sent himself a strobing gif from an alt account.
Didn’t we just catch some “journalist” using a fake twitter account to circulate rumors to back up his allegation that Trump was abusing drugs? Kurt Eichenwald or something. Maybe they are related 😉