Abortion

Texas Department of Public Safety Withdraws Subpoena of Pro-Choice Advocate’s ‘Terroristic’ Tweets

The Texas Department of Public Safety has agreed to withdraw its subpoena of an Austin woman's Twitter account after it demanded information on supposedly "terroristic" tweets she composed during the Texas legislature's special sessions earlier this summer.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has agreed to withdraw its subpoena of an Austin woman's Twitter account after it demanded information on supposedly "terroristic" tweets she composed during the Texas legislature's special sessions earlier this summer. Screenshot via Vox / Twitter

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has agreed to withdraw its subpoena of an Austin woman’s Twitter account after it demanded information on supposedly “terroristic” tweets she composed during the Texas legislature’s special sessions earlier this summer, when lawmakers worked to pass a highly criticized omnibus anti-abortion bill.

According to a statement released Thursday afternoon by Denise Romano’s lawyer, Texas DPS was seeking “information, documents and records related to Denise Romano’s Twitter account,” but she and her client “were able to work informally and cooperatively to get this matter resolved without the need for time consuming and costly litigation.”

Romano, a prolific tweeter who has nearly 10,000 followers and describes herself on her blog as a “proud member of the #feministarmy,” alerted her base to the subpoena last Friday afternoon in, of course, a tweet: “I am not kidding. I just got an email from @Twitter saying that #TX DPS has subpoenaed my tweets related to a terroristic threat #WTF #Fem2.”

Romano’s Twitter account—she’s tweeted over 272,000 times—is a compendium of retweets, live-blogs, and personal commentary concerning progressive and liberal causes, particularly dealing with civil rights, reproductive justice, and health care.

Romano went uncharacteristically silent after alerting her thousands of followers to the subpoena while she and her lawyer negotiated with DPS. During that time, her supporters expressed universal disbelief that anything Romano had tweeted could be considered “terroristic” in nature and jokingly referenced the “tampongate” incident at the state capitol in July, during which DPS officers spent an hour and a half confiscating tampons and maxi pads from women entering the Texas senate gallery.

In Thursday’s statement, Romano’s lawyer said her client “wishes to express her deeply felt gratitude for the enormous outpouring of support and offers of assistance.”