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[bacasper]

This belongs in the "through the looking-glass" file. This Tweeter advised his "Tweetees" of a police order that a street was being closed, and anyone left would be arrested. For doing so, the reporter himself got arrested for "hindering prosecution"!

Feds bust Twitter Tweeter, Seize Curious George and Buffy in Terror Probe

By Michael I. Niman
ArtVoice (etc.) 10/15/09

Protesters from around the world came to Pittsburgh to demand economic justice from the G-20. And New York City social worker Elliot Madison came to Pittsburgh to work with the Tin Can Communications Collective a group of anarchist communications activists providing real-time logistical reporting for, as they explain on their Web site, �activists fighting the state and capitalism.�

By all accounts, Madison spent his time in Pittsburgh monitoring police calls and using Twitter to report real-time police movements around the G-20 protests. In one contentious tweet, Madison reported on a police order closing a street near the protest and ordering everyone on that street to disperse. Anyone subsequently on that street would be arrested, whether or not they were informed of the closing. People monitoring the Tin Can tweets or subscribing to Tin Can text messages knew to avoid the closure area and hence avoid arrest by eschewing lawless behavior they otherwise might not have known was lawless. MSNBC and local news organizations also provided live coverage of the demonstrations.

Hindering lawlessness

Madison�s tweeting came to an end, however, after the Pennsylvania State Police stormed his hotel room, guns drawn, and, according to the New York Times, arrested him for �hindering apprehension or prosecution,� �criminal use of a communication facility,� and �possession of instruments of crime.� The hindering charge stems from the tweet in which he essentially acted as a reporter, reporting real-time news about the police dispersal order and street closure. By reporting on the closure and hence dissuading people from breaking the law, Madison allegedly hindered prosecution; thanks to him, there were no laws broken and no one to prosecute.

full article at link

[Triban]

Congratulations, USA; just when everyone thought your street cred couldn't get any lower, you go BELOW and beyond the call of duty.