Washington State Prosecutor Declares Satirical Cartoons Are a Form of "Cyber-Stalking"
The Renton P.D. is butthurt over a series of YouTube animated cartoons poking fun at issues in their ranks — including, apparently, officers having "dating relationships" with suspects. The videos — apparently created on xtranormal.com — have unidentified cops and city officials engaging in discussions lampooning departmental scandals.
Renton Chief Prosecutor Shawn Arthur has sought and obtained a a search warrant directed at Google to find the identity of the author of the YouTube videos, using the pretext that the Washington state law against "cyberstalking."
Thanks to the terrible language in the above-mentioned law, it's possible that Arthur could make life unpleasant for the video author. Watch the videos here.
UPDATE: I'm a doofus. Jacob Sullum blogged this yesterday.
