Elliot Madison, 41, described by his lawyer as a social worker and political activist, was arrested on charges which include hindering prosecution, because he used Twitter to inform protesters of the location of the police for the September 24th and 25th summit, the State Police said in a criminal complaint.
Madison is a self described New York City anarchist who has been accused of "tweeting" the location of policemen to protesters that were trying to evade officers during the Group of 20 economic summit in Pittsburgh.
Madison was arrested along with dozens of other protesters on the opening day of the G-20 summit, a gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors from among the wealthiest nations on earth.
The New York Post first reported his arrest in Saturday editions.
According to the criminal complaint, police officers acting on a tip arrested Elliot Madison at the Carefree Inn on Kisow Drive in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The complaint said that Madison and another man were found in a room in front of computers and telecommunications equipment, wearing headphones, and surrounded by maps, contact numbers and police and emergency scanners. The men were communicating with protesters by cell phone and Internet, including Twitter, the complaint said. It was not clear whether the second man was arrested also. A Pennsylvania State Police spokeswoman did not immediately return a call on Saturday and his attorney, Martin Stolar, also did not immediately return a call for comment on Saturday.
In a court filing filed on Friday, Stolar asked a federal judge to prohibit authorities from examining materials seized by FBI agents during a raid of Madison's house the day earlier. According to his filing, the agents were at the house for around sixteen hours Thursday and seized items, including political writings, computers, cell phones, anarchist literature and "identifying information of political associates."
Stolar said the search was illegal and some of the materials seized in the raid were likely protected under the First Amendment. The judge issued a temporary order of protection stopping investigators from examining the material, the New York Post reported.
In his filing, Attorney Martin Stolar also described his client as a political anarchist and social worker for the Fountain House, an organization that helps people with mental illnesses. He said that Elliot Madison was politically active, providing legal assistance to those interested in expressing political points of view through demonstration and other activity through an organization known as The Peoples' Law Collective.
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