Ex-Houston cop hired by GOP megadonor arrested for aggravated assault while hunting fake ballots
Police in Houston arrested a former Houston Police captain on Tuesday, charging him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly running an appliance repair truck off the road and holding its driver at gunpoint in a failed bid to find fake ballots. The former cop, Mark Aguirre, had been hired by the Liberty Center for God and Country, a conservative group led by Republican megadonor Steven Hotze, to find evidence of the widespread voter fraud conservatives baselessly believed was being carried out in Harris County, The Texas Tribune reports.
"We are lucky no one was killed," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. "His alleged investigation was backward from the start — first alleging a crime had occurred and then trying to prove it happened." The assault charges carry up to 20 years in jail
Aguirre told authorities he had been tailing the air conditioner repair technician for four days, aided by two other people, before forcing him off the road Oct. 19. He said he believed the technician was behind a huge voter fraud scheme and was carrying some of the 750,000 fake ballots Aguirre believed were in his possession. "There were no ballots in the truck," the Harris County district attorney's office said. "It was filled with air conditioning parts and tools." One of the people accompanying Aguirre allegedly stole the technician's van after Aguirre forced him to the ground at gunpoint, abandoning the vehicle a few blocks away.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A lawyer for Hotze told the Tribune that the Liberty Center had hired a company led by Aguirre to investigate voter fraud ahead of the election, but said Hotze "did not direct or lead any of the investigations." The Houston Police Department fired Aguirre in 2003 after a controversial raid at a Kmart parking lot, the Houston Chronicle reports. CNN's John Avlon compared Aguirre's actions to the "Pizzagate" debacle.
Hotze was one of the Texas Republicans who unsuccessfully sued to stop Gov. Greg Abbott (R) from extending early voting this year and tried to get 127,000 Harris County ballots thrown out. Earlier this year, the Tribune reports, he called Abbott's chief of staff and urged the governor to shoot and kill people protesting the police killing of George Floyd.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Olympics 2024: is Paris ready to party?
Talking Point Build-up to this summer's Games 'marred' by rows over national identity, security and pollution
By The Week UK Published
-
Solo travel: the 'ultimate indulgence in 2024'
The Week Recommends Why more of us are choosing to go on holiday on our own
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'Stormy Monday for Don'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Parents of school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years
Speed Read Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be convicted in a US mass shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Unlicensed dealers and black market guns
Speed Read 68,000 illegally trafficked guns were sold in a five year period, said ATF
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bankman-Fried gets 25 years for fraud
Speed Read Former "crypto king" Sam Bankman-Fried will report to federal prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Goon Squad' cops sentenced for torturing 2 Black men
Speed Read The former Mississippi law enforcement officers pleaded guilty last year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Michigan shooter's dad guilty of manslaughter
speed read James Crumbley failed to prevent his son from killing four students at Oxford High School in 2021
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Shooting at Chiefs victory rally kills 1, injures 21
Speed Read Gunfire broke out at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade in Missouri
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Court rules Josef Fritzl can be moved to normal prison
Speed Read 'Notorious' criminal, now 88, was convicted for raping, committing incest and imprisoning his daughter
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published