Prospective Nora Campos challenger Anthony Macias, a 21-year-old student at Chico State, has written that he was impersonated by an individual who posted anti-Jewish comments online. He has not, however, substantiated the claim with specific information.
In a San Jose Inside post on Saturday, Jan. 28, a commenter who identified himself as Anthony Macias wrote “Regarding [Campos’] charges of antisemitism: Those are entirely false. I have never posted anything of the sort on any Yahoo! message board or forum. I think that someone was pretending to be me.”
“I suspect that someone took on my personality on a Yahoo! Board,” he added.
The anti-Semitic comment tied to Macias’ online identity was actually reported by San Jose Inside—not anyone associated with Assemblymember Campos’ office. Macias lashed out at San Jose Inside, alleging collusion with the Campos camp. Since the credibility of the reporting has been called into question by the subject, this post provides additional information not included in the original post.
The comments were posted to Yahoo! forums under the handle “NoHomo *RON PAUL 2012*” which was registered with Yahoo! on October 29, 2011. In one post, NoHomo asked: “Would you vote for me considering my beliefs and record? Senator Anthony Macias is the conservative AS Senator for the Gay-Straight Alliance club. Elected in Fall 2008, he is a member of the Republican Party. He considers himself a libertarian and a constitutional conservative.”
NoHomo posted for several months under the identity, which was associated with the same email account that Macias used to correspond with San Jose Inside’s ”Fly” columnist regarding Macias’ anti-Campos Craigslist post.
An associated identity was used to post photos to a personals service with photographs that appear to be Macias. After the article appeared on San Jose Inside, the photos and some explicit pornographic movie clips came down and were replaced by a single image of a posterized Ron Paul in the style of Shepard Fairey’s “Hope” poster of Barack Obama
Macias has not replied to an email requesting documentation of any interactions with Yahoo! regarding what he suggested was “identity theft.”
Great internet detective work.. not.
User profile showing Macias’ email address.
Still trying to insinuate something aren’t you? That e-mail address goes to a gmail account, and what the hell is a freakylocs14? I could make tommcenery43@gmail” if I wanted too.
Here, let me show you guys how to be internet dicks.
First we google the email address
fr**********@gm***.com
OK we get a ton of hits to this nohomo character….
Next we just google freakylocs14.. Hang on, long link because you guys still don’t let me do a href or bbcode…
https://www.google.com/search?q=freakylocs&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=Hp8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=hp&q=freakylocs14&pbx=1&oq=freakylocs14&aq=f&aqi;=&aql=1&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=56125l56169l0l57425l3l3l0l0l0l0l211l484l0.2.1l3l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=c81cda5dc256d86e&biw=1067&bih=701
Now it gets interesting….
Specifically interesting is this result here…
http://bg2.funformobile.com/blog/blogHtmlCode.php?uid=1hgfsxnhad
For someone who calls herself “BAD ASS LATINA BITCH” We also see in some of the other search results that BAD ASS LATINA BITCH likes the HTC EVO. She also calls herself
SenoraSlayAlot’s
Hmm.. So looks like we got a woman, who’s participating in the VTA forums and seems to be politically motivated.
And she’s latina… Is this starting to paint a different picture for anyone?
(Remember that scene in Holy Grail, when King Authur is teaching the peasants scientific theory to determine if it’s a duck or a witch?)
OK.. So.. If it’s a latina, who’s got an interest in county VTA, and poltics, it can only be…
RIVETING ROSIE! (no, we all know who I’m insinuating here)
If anyone wants to wrap up this session of “Robert Cortese, internet Dick” find out what kind of phone a certain Latina politician has, get that number, and find out what network (probably sprint) that number is on.
Name-calling and negative stereotyping are all over the place, so let’s take a recent look at a couple of recent examples from the Merc that rival mutterings from a mere college student.
In just two recent columns by a Richard Cohen, endorsed by, and published in, the Merc, we see that he called Governor Perry a “big ape” who used words that “clotted in his throat (and) came out like spit teeth.” A little dehumanization there.
And two days ago, a Richard Cohen column in the Merc called Herman Cain a “clown” which is about as racist as it gets even if it is just short of the N word.
Of course, the Merc has a fundamental problem in recognizing the difference between critical comment and name-calling anyway.
Let’s keep some balance in all this, and recognize that countless examples occur all around us. Even the sainted Assembly Member Paul Fong stooped to calling a high municipal official by the name “white boy” just to disrespect the official.
The case of this Anti-Semetic twerp is a testament to how badly student government officials are advised in the state university system. Mr. Cortese has no excuse for his idiocy, but Macias is simply a symptom of the disease.
Mr. Macias has some explaining to do. SImply claiming that one was impersonated when ugly, vicious and racist comments are posted in one’s name is not adequate. Now, Macias is attacking the journalists who reported the post. Yet he won’t furnish any information supporting his claim of impersonation or say if he is speaking with law enforcement regarding the claimed identity theft. And he doesn’t explain how his webcam photos wound up in the hands of his ostensible impersonators.
Looks to me like he just got caught and is trying to squirm his way out of it.
The threats of libel shouldn’t worry anyone. When you run for office you open yourself for scrutiny. Public figures lose the legal rights to win punitive damages, since they are no longer private citizens.
SJI, thanks for posting the additional material, so we could see the posts for ourselves.
Still doesn’t prove a thing…
Prove the email belongs to Anthony. For that you’ll need…
1. Headers from the emails that show the originating IP address.
2. DHCP Lease records from the ISP of the originating IP (good luck, unless you can have law enforcement call it in)
3. DHCP records need to show that;
a. Anthony is a customer
b. He was provisioned an IP that matches the same IP in the email headers, at the time the messages were sent.
So metro STILL hasn’t proven that “crazylocs14” / “bad ass latina bitch” is Anthony. They ran a story without checking facts first. They had correspondence with some gmail account, that’s it. That’s all they’ve proven. They still haven’t proved who the mails came from.
Scrutiny is one thing, but printing a story without checking facts is another. I’m sure if the Merc ran a story, “THE NEW SAN PEDRO MARKET WAS CONSTRUCTED WITH KITTEN SLAVE LABOR” Tom would be furious.
I stayed up till 3am last night investigating this. I ran every image I could find through an EXIF reader, hoping to find camera model/geotag data (inconclusive)
I also checked some of the “jerkin” videos of the power rangers dance group (a group badasslatinabitch is a fan of)
I did find one small clue in the youtube videos…
http://i.imgur.com/sMO4e.png
In the lower left, that’s a stallion painted on the gym floor. What local high school has a stallion as its mascot? Piedmont Hills. Dunno if that’s the Piedmont hills gym. Clue? Maybe, but still inconclusive.
I should have been a lawyer.
I did some research myself, and saw that the Fly did a less than favorable story on you a few years ago. So it appears that you have a personal vendetta against the journalist.
You’ve set a very high standard of proof. It’s true that it would be possible to believe that Macias was impersonated, but it would be a lot similar to Twelve Angry Men; the defendant (Macias) might be innocent, but it’s an incredibly small chance. Likewise, though, even if it WAS Macias, there IS a chance that nobody will ever get the substantial proof that it was him beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Because of that, we have to make an educated guess. I’m guessing that it was really him, and here’s why: (1) he mentioned in the other article that he had made “enemies” on the internet who sought to do him harm, but when I asked him to elaborate, he did not; (2) the Fly mentioned that Anthony stopped responding when he asked about religion and the media, which I don’t believe an impersonator would have done; and (3) your theory that Nora Campos spent several months posting online under Macias’ identity is very unlikely, especially the idea that she was using one of her personal email addresses.
And really, what’s closer to libel- what the Fly did, or your insinuation that Nora Campos would have an online profile named Bad Ass Latina Bitch?
I think you just want to see the Fly suffer a lawsuit so that you can win some personal victory.
I think the fact that you’re ignoring my actual points speaks for itself.
If it’s any consolation,
I seem to know the fly better than you do. Fly is an amalgamation of writers too scared to expose their real names behind their stories. Maybe it’s a liability thing, maybe they’re afraid of breaking politco connections, who knows.
Fly constantly makes remarks against the Merc, Scott Herhold, yet every writer at the merc stands behind their story with their name.
I know who my fly was, and I made my peace with her. It was a her. (BTW fly, sorry I couldn’t make your birthday, wife was like, “OMG YOU’RE GOING TO GO TO A YOUNG WOMANS BDAY!!” (well, it was a little harsher than that)
Going back to vendettas…
I have 10 years corporate IT experience, doing EVERYTHING. I’ve done class C network rollouts, routing, VLAN and VPN between networks. I’ve setup numerous PBX and VOIP systems. I know my way around just about any kind of network system, server, and clients. I even do some coding now.
So you see, I’m not like 90% of the readers here. This is my territory.
There’s no vendetta here. You got a guy who sees the technical shortcomings of these accusations, and has the experience and know how to point it out. You tell me how that’s a vendetta?
How is me insinuating a female politician based on anonymous info (eg. no IP address, no mac address, no way of proving either was on that mac address at the time this was posted) any different than what the fly has done here? (BTW I never mentioned any names, I was very careful about what I wrote)
There is no difference. By mere fact that the author of said article didn’t include their name, lends even less credit to it.
“The Fly” had edited all of these photos, replacing the EXIF data. By Federal chain of evidence standards, the evidence that the fly had presented was tainted, and very likely would be thrown out of court.
If you want to argue the merits of the article, please, by all means let’s actually talk about the merits. To me, you’re just dredging up those past articles because you simply cannot outmaneuver me on the technical side.
Seems sort of desperate to me, and posting from an anonymous name lends you as much credit as the fly.
You already lost the argument when you broke Godwins Law, fights over, go home.
You asked what a freakylocs is. Locks commonly means long hair, as in “locks of love”. The fact that Macias has long hair seems to suggest that he created this moniker based on his appearance. Does that answer your question?
I did some research on my own, by the way. My findings are trivial, but more slightly more damning than your evidence against Nora Campos.
First I looked up freakylocs14. I found the same stuff you did, plus a few youtube comments from a user named freakylocs14. One comment is on a pokemon video, reading:
“Other way around noob
red in the manga is based on red in the games”
The account was closed at some point. If it was the same person who sent the emails, then they more than likely closed their account around the time they closed the yahoo accounts.
I then googled “Anthony Macias” until I found the account mentioned by the Fly which has the Ron Paul avatar. You can view it here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes deleted very soon:
http://bgclive.com/ulikepopsicles
The user describes himself as a 21-year-old latino male, which fits Macias’ description. One comment from 2010 reads:
“How’s pkmn coming along?”
I don’t know if I have to spell it out, but pkmn means “pokemon”. So if Macias was impersonated, it began two years ago.
Please stop calling yourself an internet detective. You’re just defending an anti-semite.
Nothing you mentioned would hold up in court. You still haven’t proved;
a. The PC the posts came from.
b. That Macias was at the PC at the time of the posts.
If it’s perfectly defensible in court, then it’s libel.
Also, my facebook profile is private, I *just* double checked my settings, so whoever you are, you’re on my friends list. Why don’t you get off my friends list?
Oh.. Pen names.. Right…
None of these folks used pen names because they were afraid of breaking political connections, or having liability from spewing damning garbage. Some used pen names to sound more “American” or catchy.
Steven King used “Richard Bachman” because he started seeing people buy his books just for his name, and not for the stories. He wanted to see if people still respected his writing.
What’s your excuse Dakota? I’ll tell you one thing, you’re no Sam Clemens.
This is where this thread is now. Thanks, you killed it.
http://www.sanjoseoutsider.com/beatingadeadhorse.gif
Because Robert Cortese is an anti semite.
I’m not on your friend’s list, but I can still see your wall. You should probably recheck your privacy settings.
How many times do you read a news article and decide the author should be sued for libel because he hasn’t provided an IP address? I think you’re the one really beating a dead horse. Anthony Macias obviously did everything he’s accused of, and as a member of the voting public, I’m glad that the Fly told us about it. If you think the Fly should be sued for that, then you’re opposing freedom of the press.
I’ve given you the fair acknowledgement this whole time that there is no absolute evidence unless we have an IP address, but the IP address will very likely not be obtained. But we do have the next best thing, which is near-absolute evidence, and for someone who’s been complaining about his friends getting sued for using their ‘freedom of speech’, it’s hypocritical for you to say that the Fly should be sued for sharing information with us.
There’s a reason why Anthony Macias isn’t on here calling for the IP address, anyway. Even he isn’t on here defending himself, anymore.
Also, this whole argument is really invalid because according to libel law, public figures can’t sue for libel. Running for state assembly makes you a public figure. See Associated Press v. Walker.
You’re a liar Dakota
This is what my profile looks like when I’m logged out. It looks the same to anyone not on my friends list.
http://www.sanjoseoutside.com/myfbprofile.png
Grasping for straws and lying.
Because using a pen name obviously discredits what I’ve said. Voltaire, George Orwell, and Mark Twain used pen names, and while I’m not comparing myself to them in terms of originality or wit, I admire all three of these figures, and I’m very glad that their ideas were not thrown out.
But if you really believe that you have more credit than me because you are using your real name, than it’s fair to look at your public record, which includes your public facebook, where you state: “Even if Macias was behind it, I think I just respect the guy more for his trolling ability.” I have no idea how you can say that you respect him because he made anti-semetic remarks and then tried to cover it up by lying. You might think that is “trolling ability,” but I do not see any cunning in it.
Speaking of your facebook page, I noticed you posted your last response. If you want your friends to come argue, you’re welcome to it, but having a lot of people on your side doesn’t make you right, even in an online argument.
As for your remarks about your experience doing “everything,” I’m very sure you’re awesome at “everything.” The idea that you could slam someone as libelous and then insinuate claims about Nora Campos demonstrates your immaturity. Not mentioning her by name does not change that.
I’m not lying, but I don’t really care that you don’t believe me.
And I don’t think I’m the one who’s grasping for straws.
I retract what I just said. I was looking at my info and not my wall.
I declare myself the definitive winner of this debate!
Uhh Metro?
The screenshot you posted contains EXIF data showing the image was created in photoshop CS5 on a Mac.
How much of that image was shopped?
Your screenshots are inconclusive, they only show that they were created by you.
Robert, we improved the contrast and resized it.
I did a little “contrast and resizing” myself.
http://i.imgur.com/IQmjq.png
See how easy that was? I have a screenshot, so it must be true, right?
Right?
Your screenshot is totally inconclusive, and the fact that the EXIF data shows you edited it (even if it is just a resize/contrast) is just gas on the fire. It’s an image you edited.
He says he’s going to the Fly for libel. It’s so exciting.
I am filing a complaint with his student government advisor, so he probably does need a lawyer
No One Cares
I just made an email address “
da****@gm***.com
”
Anyone want to trade emails with me? Fly? Editor? Anyone?
Get my point?
I really want to get to the bottom of this so… I’ll try and refrain from words you guys construed as “vulgar” (can we just have a list somewhere?)
Metro: Let’s get to the bottom of this.
email me a copy of the headers from the email correspondence you had. Don’t know what mail client you’re using, but somewhere should be an option to show the headers. It’ll look something like what’s below.
Delivered-To:
ro****@ro***********.com
Received: by 10.216.71.196 with SMTP id r46cs238898wed;
Wed, 1 Feb 2012 04:58:37 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.236.78.6 with SMTP id f6mr41410014yhe.109.1328101115919;
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:58:35 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <
3-********************************************************@ca*************.com
>
Received: from mail-yx0-f201.google.com (mail-yx0-f201.google.com [209.85.213.201])
by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id o35si13130358ann.32.2012.02.01.04.58.34
(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=OTHER);
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:58:34 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of
3-********************************************************@ca*************.com
designates 209.85.213.201 as permitted sender) client-ip=209.85.213.201;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of
3-********************************************************@ca*************.com
designates 209.85.213.201 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=
3-********************************************************@ca*************.com
; dkim=pass [email protected]
Received: by yenr9 with SMTP id r9so128110yen.2
for <
ro****@ro***********.com
>; Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:58:34 -0800 (PST)
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed;
d=google.com; s=gamma;
h=mime-version:reply-to:auto-submitted:message-id:date:subject:from
:to:content-type;
bh=SyPbOJc/WtWVcT+lz5AqvIOAoeMAIETkPG0hHOjpoXY=;
b=g2Wt+5rqY01TgDxwooI5l3AmDPPXEA8kOyqJMO/gQ/6BhNPp2bpXeK6Z4JUPXUJhiC
Op+6UJw5XylDhCs/9YOvTguXPGBRwOPfGpI0varbPyyxfgTQhb5rXv0pf/lvykBV4AWx
pRA81nGiFbkm7Zu+HIkMM0Sc7nEWB5pUq746c=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Received: by 10.236.131.138 with SMTP id m10mr43793293yhi.7.1328101114226;
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:58:34 -0800 (PST)
Reply-To: Robert Cortese <
ro****@ro***********.com
>
Auto-Submitted: auto-generated
Message-ID: <
20**************************@go****.com
>
Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:58:34 +0000
Subject: You have no events scheduled today.
From: Google Calendar <
ca*******************@go****.com
>
To: Robert Cortese <
ro****@ro***********.com
>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=20cf301af8ff23a70304b7e6a346
With the headers we can trace this back to a ISP, and if it’s in San Jose, I’m sure SJPD has a direct line to the major ones (comcast/AT&T). If there really is an identify theft case here, they can find out who and what.
If there isn’t an identify theft case here, then we got some problems Houston.
Do a better job of sleuthing metro before printing stuff. Seriously. Some of us (myself) have the technical know how and the critical thinking capability to see past a knee jerk article.
Even if you do go through all this, still doesn’t exonerate you completely. At this point it’s nothing more than trying to cover your assembly line after screwing up.
Anthony’s case against you can hinge on the fact that you printed something before having the evidence to substantiate your claims.
Anthony, you should go down to the SJPD and file a police report about the identity theft. Let us know when you’ve completed this task. Maybe upload the report to imgur.