Biography
Justin Shafer is an independent security researcher who was subpoenaed by the Justice Department for the identities of five Twitter users after Shafer had tweeted a smiley emoji at them regarding a case unrelated to him. Shafer was targeted by the FBI after, as the target of multiple raids despite him being unconnected to any criminal activity. Shafer contacted his FBI agent's wife asking for his items to be returned and consequently was charged with cyberstalking. After Shafer was released on bail, he was arrested again about blogging about his arrest. It's clear that Shafer did not harm anyone with his acts and was unfairly targeted by the federal government as an act of intimidation. Shafer ended up pleading guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge as part of an agreement with the government to avoid a harsher sentence if guilty. At the same Thursday hearing, he was sentenced to time he already served behind bars — about eight months — while awaiting trial.
