A group who claims to care about free speech harasses the Weekly.

We publish an issue of Monterey County Weekly every Thursday, and an edition of our e-newsletter, Monterey County NOW, every day. Some stories prompt a lot of response and some just a little. But only once in my time as a journalist at a local newspaper has a story prompted doxxing, an organized online harassment campaign.

That’s what happened Thursday, May 11, when we published a story about a YouTuber called “Anthony X,” a self-proclaimed “First Amendment auditor.” He and other such “auditors” walk into government buildings with cameras, provoke municipal employees into conflict, then document said conflict to show alleged overreactions, sometimes resulting in a call to the police.

I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that upon revealing this behavior, the same antics were unleashed on the Weekly. Within hours of publication, the phones started ringing incessantly. It turned out Anthony X had decided to make a video about me, urging his followers to do what he usually asks them to do – to call or email to log their complaints. While he asks – with what sounds in his voice like a wink and a nod – to be cordial, a small sampling of calls and emails, most anonymous, shows they are anything but.

“You are a CERTIFIED PIECE OF DOG SHIT!!” reads one email from an address belonging to the name Bad Mother F*. “FUCK YOU UGLY BITCH!!!”

Sexism seems to be pretty on brand for these messengers. One man who I spoke to on the phone called me “honey” then “toots.” Per one voicemail: “Maybe do hair or something, because you’re a shitty reporter.”

Many emailers and callers go on to caution me that this will follow me forever (yep, everything on the internet is forever, I know) and some take on a vaguely threatening tone (“now we all know you”).

One emailer took an anti-Semitic approach, with a note that reads: “Sara=nasty Jew,” going on to deny the Holocaust and accuse Israel of the 9/11 attacks.

The expression of anger is overwhelming, and obviously it’s meant to incite. But it’s also quite ironic coming from a group of people who claim to be heroes of the First Amendment – you’d think that they would respect a newspaper’s right to publish a story they don’t like.

An organized online campaign to harass journalists is not championing free speech. It’s exactly the opposite. And the Weekly has a proud history of fighting for transparency. We’ve gone to court (and prevailed) over the right to publish information from government agencies. We request and obtain government records with regularity, sometimes requiring a fight. What we try not to do is make the story about ourselves, although sometimes things unfold that way, such as when the city of Greenfield sued us in 2018 in a failed attempt to block us from publishing a story. First Amendment auditors are the story – they walk into a space ready to stir up trouble, then when trouble comes, they act as though they’ve revealed something.

“Overall I’d like to think of myself as a peaceful and relaxed individual however your method of reporting in my opinion is honestly one-sided,” Anthony X wrote to me – disingenuous, given that I told him the story was coming and interviewed him before it ran. Basic journalistic principles at work. (And entirely inconsistent with his style.)

I got a crash course in this largely virtual world of people who claim to be protecting us from our government. Fortunately, I also got a crash course in the world of people who are striving to reveal these “frauditors” for who they are – they inhabit their own YouTube world. (Per one commenter, the term “frauditor” was coined by a woman named Kate from the Masshole Report channel. The “Frauditor Follies” channel covered this story, aiming to expose Anthony X and his doxxing campaign against a newspaper.)

“I’m glad you wrote that article and I wish more legitimate journalists would cover these pests who harass public employees and police,” writes Mary Carter from the state of Washington.

My fear is that in our increasingly polarized world, the people who most need to hear the truth are not even willing or able to listen.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com