The founder of The Rooster, a prominent progressive newsletter that regularly criticizes Ohio’s political establishment, was arrested at the Statehouse on Monday.
Officials charged Donald “DJ” Byrnes with a misdemeanor charge of telecommunications harassment. Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Tyler Ross, a patrol spokesperson, said Byrnes was arrested at the Statehouse on a warrant entered by the police department in Kirtland, a small city in Lake County, near Cleveland.
Records show Byrnes is being held in jail by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office as of 6 p.m. Monday on a misdemeanor offense. The records indicate he’s being held on behalf of officials in Lake County, near Cleveland.
Specifics about the charges are not available on the Willoughby Municipal Court’s website as of Monday evening.
A photograph shared on social media by Max Littman, an occasional contributor to The Rooster, shows what appears to be a law enforcement officer standing behind Byrnes, his hands behind his back. The two are approaching a police car parked outside the Ohio Statehouse.
The exact nature of the allegation against Byrnes is unclear, but his arrest could face scrutiny over whether it’s an example of the government punishing a citizen for political speech, violating basic First Amendment rights.
In 21st century fashion, Byrnes operates as some combination of an online political commentator, newsgatherer, provocateur, prankster and gadfly. In recent days, he has feuded with Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over whether the candidate was denied access to the New York Knicks’ locker room after the team eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers from the NBA playoffs at a game in Cleveland. Ramaswamy denied Byrnes’ report as “100% fake” and called him a “leftist blogger with mental health issues.”
Telecommunications harassment is a first-degree misdemeanor, the most severe classification before felony level crimes. It’s punishable by up to 180 days in prison if the state can prove Byrnes knowingly made a telecommunication “with purpose to harass, intimidate, or abuse.”
Both Littman and Byrnes’ wife, Rachel Wenning, citing a line on apparent court paperwork identifying the victim as “JC,” claimed the arrest revolves around a text message sent to Sen. Jerry Cirino, a regular subject of Byrnes’ ridicule. (Rooster articles regularly refer to Cirino as “Little Mussolini.”) Cirino lives in Willoughby in Lake County.
Cirino largely declined comment Monday but said he “did not request any such thing” when asked about Byrnes’ arrest.
The court records were published Monday afternoon by Jack Windsor, a conservative media personality in the Columbus area whom Byrnes also has criticized. The case number in the records though did not appear on the searchable case management system for the Willoughby Municipal Court, which handles misdemeanor charges filed in Kirtland, on Monday evening. The apparent warrant makes reference to an “explicit image and two harassing text messages.”
This article was updated with additional information provided by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. An earlier version incorrectly stated police in Willoughby sought the charges. It has been corrected.
