Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has seven days to apologize to two men over blocking them on Twitter, according to the attorney who is representing them.
Sean M. Guay, of Hummelstown, and Jason Lindemuth, of Harrisburg, hired Marc Scaringi to represent them. They say they have a First Amendment Right to a healthy public discord on social media.
The disagreement was sparked over a picture Fetterman tweeted Tuesday of his wife, Gisele, wearing a Brazilian carnival outfit. The warning letter was delivered to Fetterman on Friday, the attorney said.
In it, Scaringi noted a PennLive article, which quoted Fetterman as accusing Lindemuth of trying to “shame” his wife on Twitter. Lindemuth said that’s not true and that he just disagreed with how Fetterman, a public official, was spending his time.
Other recent events that involved public officials, and social media, have resulted in the public official being sued, Scaringi said. Federal courts have ruled that social media is a “designated public forum” where public officials are not permitted to block Twitter users.
President Donald J. Trump was sued for blocking Twitter users. That decision was made by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Scaringi wrote.
Another example, he cited, was U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She was sued for blocking a Twitter follower. In her case, she apologized.
The letter says that Fetterman has seven days to issue an apology to both men for blocking them and to Lindemuth for accusing him of trying to “shame” his wife or Scaringi plans to pursue a defamation lawsuit.
