A Florida man has been arrested for run a lampoon Twitter account impersonating a Miami Beach Police Department voice — a story we ’ve already seen play out with two standardised cases over the past few years .
Although it has never terminate well for authorities , police officers arrested 48 - year - old Ernesto Orsetti on Wednesday at his Miami Beach home base , theMiami New Timesreports . MBPD Chief Dan Oates reportedly call Orsetti ’s behavior “ usurious ” and said he would be “ held accountable ” for “ jeopardize to damage the reputation of our superb Public Information Officer , as well as the Miami Beach Police Department steel . ”
The MBPD ’s “ stain ” has been under terror since at least January when the parody account — which Twitter has now suspended — was first noticed by a local NBC 6 reporter .
Ernesto Rodriguez , the brilliant public relation officeholder whose reputation was allegedly at risk of being devastated , had antecedently joked about the account online , write on January 19th : “ They say caricature is the sincere form of flattery . Just show the amount of ‘ innocent ’ clip folks have . ” Rodriguez by and by wrote of the parody : “ Lol , it is generating some corking laughs via text edition ! ” followed by the hashtag , # WhoCreatesFAKEaccounts .
.@ernierodmb Will the real@ERodriguez782please abide up ? Impersonating a@MiamiBeachPDofficer is bold !
— Jamie Guirola ( @jamieNBC6)January 19 , 2017
They say caricature is the sincerest grade of flattery . Just shows the amount of " free " time folk have.#fakeAccount 😂 wow 👉 @ernierodmbhttps://t.co / xitvQGEVIm
— Ernesto Rodriguez ( @ERodriguez782)January 19 , 2017
Lol , it is generating some bully jest via text!#WhoCreatesFAKEaccountshttps://t.co / voaFOYztoO
A police report obtain by the Times states : “ [ Orsetti ] falsely create and assumed the identity of the dupe ( combat-ready police officer / law information officer via Twitter . ” It hold up on to mark that the account hold photos of a Miami Beach police force vehicle as well as a photograph of Rodriguez in uniform .
The write up states that using the report , Orsetti communicated with “ local medium , elect officials , and the community . ” But it does not , harmonize to the newspaper , explain what specifically prompted Orsetti ’s sudden arrest , nor does it explain why the department did not simply have the news report suspend .
Again , this is n’t the first time we ’ve seen someone arrest for parodying officials online . In 2014 , a human in Peoria , Illinois was raid by the city ’s constabulary after create a satiric account bemock its mayor . He wasawarded$125,000 in damages after an unsuccessful attempt to convey charge against him during a subject in which the defense argued a First Amendment right to satirize governing functionary .
Last year , an Cleveland man wasarrestedfor creating a fake Facebook account called “ The City of Parma Police Department . ” gratuitous to say , the actual Parma Police Department were not divert , accusing the 27 - year - old of posting “ derogatory and incendiary ” info . Although police claim the section was inundated with song about fictive police force posted on the page , it gathered fewer than 100 followers and a jury unanimously discharge the homo a few months later .
As the Times billet , the police under which Orsetti was arrested this week make it illegal to “ impersonate a fuzz , ” though it makes no honorable mention of impersonating a cop online — a fact Orsetti ’s attorney is sure to produce in court .
[ Miami New Times ]
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