A mayor ordered a police raid on an innocent man’s home because he made fun of a judge on Twitter

By John Vibes

PEORIA, ILLINOIS (INTELLIHUB) — A raid was carried out on a man’s home recently because he made a parody Twitter account for his town’s mayor. There were many comical but embarrassing posts made to the account.

According to one tweet, “Mayor Ardis utilizes illegal drugs, associates with prostitutes and utilized offensive inappropriate language.” Mayor Jim Ardis was deeply offended by the Twitter account that was set up in his name, so he launched a full scale police investigation into the identity of the prankster.

Last Tuesday the investigation ended in a full scale raid of Jacob Elliot’s house. Three people at the home were taken into police custody for questioning, as were two others who were met by police at their places of employment.

During the raid police seized several iPhones, two Xbox video game consoles, some mail, computers, and digital memory cards. While there were no arrests made relating to the Twitter account, one of the occupants of the house was arrested because police found small amounts of marijuana and paraphernalia.

“They just asked me about the Twitter account, if I knew anything about it,” resident Michelle Pratt, 27, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “They brought me in like I was a criminal.” Mayor Ardis responded to criticism this week, saying that the raid was justified. “It went way over the line,” Ardis said. “For that reason, my immediate reaction was a deeply personal one on behalf of my family and myself. As a person, I felt a victim of sexual doggerel and filth. It was filth. It was absolute filth.”

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Writer Bio:

John Vibes is an investigative journalist, staff writer and editor for Intellihub News, where this article originally appeared. He is also the author of a 65 chapter Book entitled “Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance” and is an artist with an established record label. You can find him on his Facebook. Pick up your own copy of his book today at THIS LINK!

For media inquires, interviews, questions or suggestions for this author, email: vibes@intellihub.com or telephone: (347) 759-6075.

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