Shrek Meme Trial
An Ohio blogger called “The Rooster” was put on trial for sending NSFW Shrek memes to a state senator. A jury just found him guilty of telecommunications harassment in record time.
Cleveland News 5 reports that it only took Lake County jurors 30 minutes to decide that D.J. Byrnes was guilty of taunting Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) with not one but two texted memes of Shrek holding his genitals. While he faced up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, the judge in the case reduced sentence to court costs and a $200 fine.
Byrnes was reportedly harassing Cirino with the pics following a failed bid for Senate president. “There is a line to be drawn between normalized interaction on issues and policy and votes and et cetera, that allow for agreement and disagreement and lots of debate on a professional basis,” the senator said in a prior interview. “There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed.”
Well. Shrek has made his debut on the screen today.
Over the trial, prosecution has emphasized ~repeatedly~ the state that Shrek is in, and the activity he is allegedly engaged in. pic.twitter.com/EuLMgus6xH
— Morgan Trau (@MorganTrau) October 9, 2026
An image of the offending texts at trial was censored but appeared to show a picture of naked Shrek with words below it reading, “Good to see you finally made your final humiliation public, Young Mussolini! The Patriots Caucus sends its regards!!!!!!!!!!”
The trial lasted two days, during which Byrnes tried to mount a free speech defense. One of the witnesses called on behalf of the defense was a lobbyist named Bobby Ina. Cirino admitted to texting the lobbyist during the trial, which is a big no-no. “You shared a voicemail with The Rooster? Seriously?” the text from Cirino read, according to Ina’s testimony.
When asked why he sent the text to Ina, Cirino told Cleveland News 5, “Well, I thought he was a friend… I really didn’t have any objectives or anything that I was trying to accomplish; it was just an expression of my surprise.”
Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy for the free speech organization FIRE, said Byrnes should appeal. “The First Amendment protects the right to criticize government officials, even in crude or vulgar terms,” he posted after the verdict came down. “If a single electronic communication that annoys or alarms the recipient can amount to criminal harassment, that’s bad news for a lot of social media users!”