New York – Twitter user @ComfortablySmug may face criminal charges after he tweeted a number of false and deliberately misleading tweets to his 6,500 followers at the height of Hurricane Sandy on Monday night.
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His phony tweets, issued in rapid succession, included messages such as “BREAKING: Con Edison has begun shutting down all power in Manhattan,” and “BREAKING: Governor Cuomo is trapped in Manhattan. Has been taken to a secure shelter.” His Twitter feed also included a fake tweet allegedly written by President Obama. “RT @BarackObama: If you are trapped in New York City and are running out of food, remember to eat your dogs first before going outside -bo.”
Two of his tweets were re-tweeted by more than 500 people. But many Twitter users questioned the veracity of his tweets and even Con Ed disputed his tweet about power outages.
According to CNN (http://bit.ly/TUX8hu), ComfortablySmug also posted bogus tweets claiming that both the New York Stock Exchange and every major subway line had flooded and would be closed for at least a week. A number of news outlets, including CNN and the National Weather Service, reported that NYSE had flooded based on ComfortablySmug’s tweet.
But ComfortablySmug’s reign of terror came to an end when Buzzfeed blogger Jack Stuef exposed him by comparing modified photos posted on his Twitter account with unedited versions of the same photos posted elsewhere online. Stuef revealed that ComfortablySmug is actually Shashank Tripathi, a Wall Street analyst who is also serving as a campaign manager for New York Republican Congressional candidate Christopher Wight. Wight is challenging incumbent Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney in the NY-12 race.
Once his identity was revealed, Tripathi apologized Tuesday night on Twitter and resigned from the campaign. “I wish to offer the people of New York a sincere, humble and unconditional apology,” he wrote. “While some would use the anonymity and instant feedback of social media as an excuse, I take full responsibility for my actions. I deeply regret any distress or harm they may have caused.” Tripathi did not respond to requests for comment.
Democratic City Councilman Peter Vallone says he believes Tripathi’s tweets are “the digital equivalent of shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater.” He has asked the Manhattan DA’s office to consider criminally charging Tripathi and prosecuting him for deliberately fabricating and disseminating information during an emergency or natural disaster.
Vallone admits it is a difficult case to prosecute, but he told Buzzfeed, “The Manhattan DA is taking this very seriously. I hope the fact that I’m asking for criminal charges to be seriously considered will make him [Tripathi] much less comfortable and much less smug.”
Only fools trust tweets on twitter
What else would you expect from a Republican dreche who seeks to cause panic and exploit the tragedy while it was ongoing. Wright and his chevrah will lose badly next Tuesday and this is only one of many reasons.
What compels someone to do such a thing ill never know.
Sorry, Mr. Vallone. While Mr.Tripathi’s tweets were stupid and ill advised, they were not the “the digital equivalent of shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater.” Shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater is unlawful because of the high probability of causing injury during a likely ensuing panic. His tweets were more like yelling “Fire!” in the Sahara Dessert (yelling “Water!” is a different matter).
did his tweets cause physical harm? if so than yes he could be charged, but if it didnt than hes simply a bad prankster
Shashank Tripathi is his name? That’s what you get when the immigration laws are so generous that any number of inferior people from savage parts of the world can come and live here.
He’s a jerk. Not a criminal. Not even similar to crowded theatre. Noone trampled anyone because of him.
Ha ha, this just goes to show how credible CNN is. reporting a news story based on some anonymous source on Twitter.