Man who despatched ‘specific Shrek photograph’ to senator has to pay £150 effective after conviction
A political blogger has been convicted of telecommunications harassment after sending an American state senator an explicit, digitally altered image of the cartoon ogre
D.J. Byrnes, who runs the left-leaning Substack newsletter The Rooster(Image: WEWS)
A political blogger has been convicted after sending a state senator an explicit, digitally altered image of the cartoon ogre Shrek with his penis exposed. D.J. Byrnes, who runs the left-leaning Substack newsletter The Rooster, was convicted of telecommunications harassment following a rapid 30-minute jury deliberation in Lake County, Ohio, USA.
The conviction stems from a text message Byrnes sent to Republican State Senator Jerry Cirino. The message taunted Cirino for dropping out of the race for Ohio Senate president, branding him “Young Mussolini” alongside the obscene Shrek graphic. Cirino forwarded the text to Kirtland Police Chief Jamey Fisher.
State Highway Patrol officers later arrested Byrnes directly inside the Ohio Statehouse in June 2026, holding him in jail for 23 hours – an action Byrnes’ team claimed was political retaliation.
He sent a digitally altered image of the cartoon ogre Shrek(Image: UniversalPictures/YouTube)
“I am officially filing a complaint and am asking that the Kirtland Police Department take appropriate actions,” Cirino wrote to police, adding that Byrnes had harassed him in the past and he did not want to see the “pornographic” image.
“I would like this harassment to stop immediately and I would like charges filed against the individual.” During the trial at Willoughby Municipal Court, Byrnes’ lawyers likened the lewd image to a crude political cartoon, arguing that vulgar commentary directed at elected officials is constitutionally protected under free speech laws, the New York Times reported.
However, prosecutors argued that sending sexually explicit images from an unknown number served no purpose other than pure harassment. Testifying in court, Cirino insisted: “This wasn’t a free speech issue; this was a harassment statute that I believed he was in violation of.
“There is a line to be drawn between normalised interaction on issues and policy… There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed.”
The message taunted Cirino for dropping out of the race for Ohio Senate president
The jury agreed with the state, finding Byrnes guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor. Visiting Judge Michael Cicconetti ordered Byrnes to pay a $200 (£151) fine plus court costs, and slapped him with an order to have no further contact with Cirino.
Byrnes’ legal team has confirmed they intend to appeal the verdict. This comes after a Brit bloke with a micropenis “about the size of a paracetamol” has cheekily shared a “big d***” image while sipping cocktails on holiday, the Daily Star previously reported.
Michael Phillips, who posts online under the handle “whutzhizphace”, uploaded an Instagram carousel updating followers on a trip to Mr. Sancho’s Cozumel Beach Club in Cozumel, Mexico.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
