Though election fraud has been disproven ad nauseum throughout the country, Trump and his followers continue to buy into the conspiracy.
Former Houston Police Captain Mark Anthony Aguirre is one such follower, and now faces charges after holding an air conditioning repairman at gunpoint over a disproven ballot fraud accusation.
Former Houston Police Capt. Mark Anthony Aguirre, 63, was arrested Tuesday for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. https://t.co/ezgR9n2X9a
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) December 17, 2020
63-year-old Aguirre accused the man at random of transporting over 750,000 fraudulent ballots in his truck on October 19, about a month before the election was called. The man’s truck was—unsurprisingly—full of air conditioning parts and tools.
No ballots were found in the truck.
Aguirre was detained after a current Houston police officer witnessed him force the repairman to the ground at gunpoint and kneel on his back. After identifying himself as an ex-cop, he baselessly demanded Houston police take the innocent man into custody.
I want to say this was a terrorist action brought on by the republicans Constant persistent unfactual rhetoric and it did have a role but in this specific case this man had a psychotic episode, mental Break from reality.
— Pimpinken (@pimpinken139) December 17, 2020
This is the face of someone waiting to be radicalized and it's time we started talking about it.. willing to be fodder for the rich pushing an agenda…and the guy funding this should be investigated as though he were facilitating terroristic actions
— Clyons317 (@clyons317) December 17, 2020
Minds have been lost.
— L.Whitefield (@zavatsky) December 17, 2020
As Trump used to say, "Lock 'em up!"
— Scott Lindstrom – Tiniest Kitchen in Puyallup (@NW7U) December 17, 2020
@realDonaldTrump , this is YOUR evil
— Kim Cooper (@coop2804) December 17, 2020
Aguirre then reportedly claimed he was working on behalf of the Liberty Center for God and Country, a right-wing private citizens group who paid Aguirre over $200,000 to follow and terrorize this innocent man.
CULT45
— steve bukowski (@brotherbukowski) December 17, 2020
See this is what I mean,someone will get killed over Trump and his mouth!
— Trick (@peachietrishie) December 17, 2020
A confederacy of dunces.
— David McRae (@gort1221) December 17, 2020
Someone needs to evaluate this man for mental health conditions. There’s no way he was so stupid to have believed something like this. Clearly, he is delusional.
— Jeff Sarabok (@JSarabok) December 17, 2020
— Jose (@Josurf) December 17, 2020
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said:
“He [Aguirre] crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime and we are lucky no one was killed.”
“His alleged investigation was backward from the start—first alleging a crime had occurred and then trying to prove it happened.”
Now all the $ he was paid will go to attorneys. What a fool.
— Elvira Pendergraft (@ElviraPendergr1) December 17, 2020
Creep
— Nancy Potts (@nancepotts) December 17, 2020
Insanity reigns
— Janet Palmer (@palmtre2) December 16, 2020
Don’t let this man plead insanity
He got PAID for his actionsPAID!
— #TrumpTheLoser 🇺🇸 (@heyjolly) December 16, 2020
The Right, like all fascists, understand that this will prompt violence from men who feel they are ‘heroes’ to the nationalist cause. And that violence, or threat of it, is intended to suppress resistance from centrists & liberals. This is from the Nazi playbook, plain & simple.
— Diamond (@Diamond61845143) December 16, 2020
Aguirre’s career as a police officer ended in 2003 when he botched a raid and caused legal issues for the city of Houston.
Behind Aguirre is a more sinister organized effort to create voter fraud allegations out of thin air, run by Republican activist Steven Hotze, who heads up the Liberty Center in Houston.
The baseless claims of voter fraud continue through places like the Liberty Center, despite the continuing acknowledgement by the GOP of the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Vigilance will be key to prevent violent crimes by this conspirancy theory spewing cabal going forward.
