14 DAY TRIAL // The case that revolves around Aaron Swartz’s suicide is far from being over. While many blame current US laws for the tragic event, others blame the prosecutors that handled the case of the Reddit co-founder.
According to prosecutor Jack W. Pirozzolo of Massachusetts, Carmen Ortiz – the district attorney in charge of the prosecution of the Internet activist – and head of Ortiz’s Internet and Computer Crimes Unit Stephen P. Heymann have received numerous threats since Swartz’s death.
A court filing obtained by Wired has revealed that Heymann’s Facebook account has been hacked, his personal details have been made public, and he has received numerous threats, including a post card which shows his father’s head in a guillotine.
“ROFLMAO just saw you were totally dox’d over the weekend by Anonymous. How does it feel to become an enemy of the state? FYI, you might want to move out of the country and change your name,” one of the emails sent to Heymann read.
Carmen Ortiz has received similar threats.
Prosecutors have filed the declaration to convince the court not to make public the names of the individuals that had investigated Swartz before he was charged with downloading academic articles from JSTOR.