In a weekend editorial, the Peoria Journal Star questions the idea that Peoria’s citizens should be footing the mayor’s legal defense costs in the city’s Twittergate lawsuit. Reviewing the suit filed by the ACLU of Illinois on behalf of Jon Daniel, the newspaper reiterated the strengths of Daniel’s claim that his First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated when, at the mayor’s instigation, police entered his home, searched and confiscated his cell phone and computer equipment in response to his Twitter parody of the mayor. The editorial again calls on the city “to cut its losses,” challenges the wisdom of the city’s public relations strategy, and maintains that the mayor and city council members must be held responsible and accountable:

As mayor, Ardis’ public responsibilities must trump his personal feelings. If not, well, Peoria isn’t just the mayor’s city. If this is to go forward and taxpayer funds are to be spent, we’d request that every City Council member be on record as to how he or she justifies that — or not — for accountability purposes down the road, however this turns out.

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A 29-year-old Peoria resident is suing the City, the Mayor and several officials for their overreaction to a Twitter parody of the Mayor. The city officials caused the parody to be turned into a police matter, leading to a raid on Mr. Daniel's home, the seizure of his personal property and his arrest and detention. Jon Daniel, represented by the ACLU of Illinois, is asking a federal court in Peoria to hold the Mayor, the City Manager, the former police chief and other City officials accountable for violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights by responding to a parody account spoofing the Mayor by launching a manhunt for the account’s author.

A press conference announcing the filing of the lawsuit on June 12, 2014 received wide public attention both in Peoria and across the nation. Below is a sampling of the stories that reported on the event.

• Peoria Journal-Star, June 11, 2014
• The Chicago Tribune, June 12, 2014
• Wired Magazine, June 12, 2014
• Ars Technica, June 12, 2014
• Mashable, June 12, 2014
• Reason.com, June 12, 2014
• Central Illinois Proud, June 12, 2014
• Northern Public Radio, June 13, 2014
• Gawker, June 13, 2014
• Policy Mic, June 13, 2014
• Peoria Journal Star editorial, June 14, 2014
• Peoria Journal Star open letter, June 15, 2014
• United Press International, June 16, 2014
• Chicago Tribune Editorial, June 23, 2014

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