Newsweek reporter Kurt Eichenwald, who has written many critical stories about President-elect Donald Trump since last month's presidential election, is now claiming that people on Twitter are triggering his epilepsy by sending him tweets containing GIFs of strobe lights. For people with epilepsy, strobe lights can cause seizures.
Last night, for the second time, a deplorable aware I have epilepsy tweeted a strobe at me with the message "you deserve a seizure' on it...
- Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 16, 2016
Eichenwald spoke to George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, and mentioned how a Twitter user late last week sent him a "multi-colored strobe that was going at a speed that was designed to cause a seizure, and it succeeded."
That tweet, sent by a Twitter user with the handle "@jew_goldstein" (which has since been suspended), featured the strobing GIF with text on top of it that read, "You deserve a seizure for your posts." Eichenwald said his wife responded to the tweet and photographed it for evidence of what happened.
ABC/Good Morning America
Eichenwald claims other Twitter users have caught on, and are also sending him strobes through the social network.
"I can't look at my Twitter feed anymore," Eichenwald said on GMA. "Apparently a lot of people find this very funny. A lot of people who identify themselves as Trump supporters are loading up my feed with more strobes."
Eichenwald claims he is working with Twitter and pursuing legal action against people sending him strobes. And on Tuesday, Eichenwald took to Twitter once more to warn trolls to back off.
Finally, a notice to those now sending strobes. We are getting your accounts canceled, one at a time. So if u want to stay on twitter, stop.
- Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
How have so many ppl become such sociopaths that they think its ok to assault someone if they write political stories they don't like?
- Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
Look at how many Trump followers seem to think its funny or deserved that someone used my disability as a weapon. Whats wrong with them?
- Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
Folks, if a blind man says things you don't like politically, it is not okay to direct him toward the edge of a cliff. Find some humanity.
- Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 20, 2016
We reached out to Newsweek and Twitter for more information. You can watch Eichenwald's segment on "Good Morning America" below.