A man walks into Marina City Hall and is greeted politely at the front desk. Things start to get a little uncomfortable when the staff member realizes he is not here to conduct city business – to request a building permit, say, or register for a recreation program. He’s just here to hold a camera and test the limits of the staffer’s comfort with the camera. As she becomes obviously uncomfortable, the visitor says, “It’s just a camera, ma’am.” His narrative continues: “I come in peace, I have no ill will. I’m just a guy with a camera, peacefully exercising my rights.”
He then walks into the Finance Department – which is not open to the public, but no locked door or no trespassing signage bars his way. He narrates his ostensible mission, to “make sure there’s no alcohol, contraband, anything of that nature.” There are just cubicles, no contraband (nor any apparent reason why he suspects there might be). When he’s advised that this is an employee-only area, he pushes back: “Watch your tone.”
A few minutes later, two Marina police officers arrive. A surprisingly civil conversation follows, and Cmdr. Steve Russo eventually instructs him, firmly but politely, to leave the Finance Department. “You’re interrupting city hall business,” Russo says. “I’m asking you to leave.”
Eventually he does, and it becomes part of a video posted on Oct. 15, 2022 to YouTube by a user named “Anthony X.”
Anthony X describes himself as a First Amendment auditor, and his hundreds of videos follow a similar arc. Walk into a government building, point cameras at employees, with no agenda other than to test their limits. He posts to Instagram and YouTube, then asks viewers to rate the agency pass or fail. (They’re also invited to give money.) Each video starts and ends with a flourish in which he recites something of a motto: “Remember, noooooo bootlicking!”
In one video, from April 6 in Pacific Grove City Hall, a staff member calls the police while being filmed. When they arrive, Anthony X tells officers: “Hopefully she’ll do better next time, because there will be a next time.”
On Dec. 29, he told a staff member at the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board office in Salinas: “I’m just a guy with a camera. I’m an independent journalist working on a story… I come in peace, I’m not here to cause trouble.”
Anthony X claims he is conducting these audits in the service of the public, testing government agencies’ compliance with the First Amendment. (He also calls himself a journalist, but eschews journalistic ethics.) Not every hallway or office in a public building is open to the public, and public service does not require chatting with people holding a camera in your face for any purpose other than because they can. Anthony X seems to be trying to provoke, and it’s for that reason that he doesn’t announce himself – nor does he share his full name or identity (he wears a face covering in his videos).
“They might not like it, but I want to test to see if they honor and respect my rights,” he tells me over the phone. “There’s not a lot of middle ground with what I do, you either love it or hate it.”
He declines to give me his full name or share where he lives beyond the tri-county area; he says he works a graveyard shift as a sales manager, and these local government audits have become a side project over the past three years.
I would call these “audits” bullying. He thinks the videos, which skirt the edge of confrontation just up to the law, are good for access and transparency. (“In my opinion, there’s no such thing as bad exposure – you can either shine like a star or melt like a snowflake,” he says.)
But these antics don’t have the effect of getting agencies to throw open their doors – if anything, they do the opposite, prompting tighter security. Two months after his visit to Marina City Hall, City Council approved $48,000 for design upgrades. “It was a very intimidating, threatening invasion of our City Hall,” Mayor Bruce Delgado said before voting to approve the expenditure.
Pacific Grove officials expect a draft proposal this month on proposed security updates. “I owe it to my employees to make sure they come home safe everyday,” City Manager Ben Harvey says. “If there are things I can do to improve that, while ensuring the public has appropriate access, that’s what I should do.”
(25) comments
Outstanding piece, thank you for writing it. Between your column and the majority of the comments underneath, it pretty much hits the nail on the head. And boy, do those people need to have a nail hit them on their heads. Both figuratively and literally. An ax into their heads wouldn't be a bad idea, either.
Oh, and Freedom Willy: Linking to a frauditor's self-edited videos is evidence of nothing except just how egregiously deceptive and unethical these jobless bottom-feeding criminals are.
Policies, rules, laws, ethics, morals, and just basic human decency mean absolutely nothing to them. Harassment and bullying for fun and profit. To paraphrase Daffy Duck, "They're despicable."
I'm not a psychiatrist, but if my minor I earned taking 25 semester hours of college psychology I took over 40 years ago taught me just one thing, it's that people who lack empathy are narcissistic sociopaths. The First Amendment is merely a pretext for them to show off and inflict their multiple serious personality disorders onto others. And most importantly, if everything goes as they hope, to make money doing it. That's the bottom line.
I've been reading the Monterey County Weekly online for years and have never seen another article with so many comments. It's obvious that the rude comments are from this sad youtuber's online fanbase, and are very likely not actual locals affected by these issues. Y'all, if you're actually reading this, go outside and try to find joy in something.
Sara Rubin, you're doing awesome, thanks for always writing great local articles, and sorry that you have to deal with these clowns. Your community is behind you.
Excellent article! She nails what frauditors are all about. Bullying, harassment, etc., all to provoke a confrontation. They don't care about rights. They care about clicks and views so they can make YouTube ad money and ebeg for donations and paid subscribers. People should NOT be forced to "star" in their stupid YouTube "movie!" Sarah, I appreciate your addressing this topic, as frauditing has exploded in the last year or so, and it's getting worse and now dangerous as these frauditors escalate their behavior and actions in a desperate attempt to get more views. Those that run these government buildings need to realize ALL government buildings are either LIMITED or NON-PUBLIC forums, which means they can restrict or ban recording and photography all they want. Frauditors are disruptive, cause fear and alarm, and disturb, upset, and annoy everyone they encounter. It should NOT be tolerated! We would NEVER tolerate such behavior from a person without a camera- harassing, bullying, insulting, demeaning, intimidating, menacing, threatening, etc., so why do we let them get away with it so often??
The fact that Anthony X doxxed Sarah Rubin because he was butthurt over the article she wrote- using HER free speech and HER freedom of the press, tells you that these frauditors don't give a crap about the 1st amendment- they don't like free speech they don't agree with and their feeling get hurt VERY easily. Thin-skinned, hypocritical man-babies. Ridiculous and disgusting!
Thank you, again, Sarah! I hope you are able to take action against those who are contacting you, threatening you, etc., because Anthony X told them to! There are WAY more of us who are on your side than his. We have your back!! Keep up the good work!
I’ve been following these auditors for close to four years and the following is an objective reality of the community as a whole:
1. Many are life long criminals with multiple felony convictions who spent years in prison. Some of the biggest channels in the community are ran by convicted felons that have spent time in prison for rape, child molestation, armed robbery, sexual assault and battery.
2. Many are jobless.
3. Auditors are responsible for cities throughout the US passing laws that restrict filming inside government owned/controlled buildings.
4. Some of these laws have already been challenged in federal court: and the courts have ruled the restrictions are constitutional.
5. Government can place restrictions on 1A protections; the 1A is not absolute.
6. Auditors conflate public building, or ‘publicly accessible’ with public forum.
7. The fact that an area is open to the public is not enough to establish it as a public forum for first amendment purposes.
8. Auditors are arrested and convicted on a regular basis for these stunts. While some have had their cases dismissed, no court has ever ruled the government can’t enact policies that restrict filming inside government buildings.
Lastly, these criminals are literally causing more harm to the first amendment than good. Again, it’s a fact that cities are passing legislation that restricts 1A rights; all in direct response to their parasitic behavior.
Sarah, you're article spot on. I've been following the lot of F1 lizards, and let me know ell you what my part of YouTube calls them. Guys like Anthony x or 12 chromosomes as I like to call him, is a Frauditor. That term was coined by a woman named Kate from masshole report channel. The inspiration for the name came when the godfather of our community the late great so schwartinger's cat from YouTube made the proclamation "Frauditors Lie" . They love making people uncomfortable and acting like they are the big bosses. It's just an act for their lunatic fan's. I would love to touch base with you this idiot you ran into is guppy compared to some of the other loons you'll find down the rabbit whole. Steven from la familia channel made me aware of this great and factual article you wrote. Hezokaui from Frauditor Follies channel sent me your link it's why I'm here. You might get some harassment the next few days these guys like to play scummy games like "call flooding" telling the fans to leave negative reviews on post like this one .
This was one of the most informative article on Fraudits, you find me on T he forgiven Jerry is my channel
I think this article was totally correct. If you go to the 1st Amendment Auditor Anthony X's reply video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxCU_6PU_n4 you will see that he says that the reporter in his opinion is jealous because he does not have to follow the rules of journalistic ethics. Really? I guess that means that you are not a journalist then. A journalist is someone who makes an appointment, is professional, courteous, well mannered, gives their name, business card, reason for their visit. You know, common courtesy. I may be old school but guerilla tactics is no way to investigate but it is the way to get the police called. You are not standing up for anyone's rights, you are simply trying to satisfy your subscribers want of chaos. They egg you on for more and more and send you money to be more and more aggressive. You used to be almost human Anthony, what happened? Not enough money coming in by doing it that way? The laws will change and we will lose rights by what you are doing. A true reporter reports the facts and does not become the story by getting arrested. You are truly shameful and so are your subscribers for believing this nonsense. Leave Sara alone. She did a fine job. Kudos to her.
So called auditors weaponize our freedoms to use against us.
Anthony X is an instigator just looking for youtube money that he gets by causing confrontations and arguments with workers in general. Sometimes he bothers government workers, sometimes he bothers banks, but he's always looking for a confrontation. He's no journalist, journalists report on the story, they don't become the story.
1000% accurate. Frauditors have no idea about what they are talking about.
This dude and his brain dead supporters are cowards. The foundering father would have tarred and feathered these dudes after their first attempted “audits”.
I cover this movement extensively and the more and more they post the more and more it seems like they are part of the sovereign citizen movement.
It’s takes 0 qualifications to become a frauditor, the more that try this the crazier they have to become to get views.
They are absolutely pathetic and lack any legal knowledge.
Sara you are absolutely right we make fun of these guys all the time on the YouTube channel that I produce for! They are losers in most all of them have criminal records! They're only there to get views and monetize your channel they don't care about anything else! Please check out Frauditor Follies he just did a video covering what this moron did to you also check out KFARR we are out here trying to stop these guys! I love this article and I hope all you fraudiders fakes and phonies feel embarrassed as you should be!! I love this article and you have a whole team behind you on YouTube and other places Sara ❤️❤️
This is SPOT ON, first amednment auditors are a blight on the public, they treat people like dirt and expect everyone to bend over backwards to serve the man with the camera and everyone and anyone else must obery the demands of the man with the camera, it's a scam.
Anthony Landa is a hypocrite. He is supposedly fighting for free speech yet he is encouraging his followers to leave nasty comments and is trying to silence someone else’s free speech because he got his feelings hurt.
I think Sarah summed up what most of the public thinks about these 'auditors'. It pretty transparent and obvious that they are simply there to make a YouTube video. They make money off not only ad revenues but the people who decide to hand over their hard earned cash to people who simply abuse the first amendment for clicks and views. Its entertainment and not about fighting for our rights.
What's even sadder is this publication and the writer will now be attacked & harassed by these loyal followers for simply having a different opinion than theirs. Its ironic that they believe in the freedom of speech so strongly but only if its agreeing with them.
At the end of the day auditors and their subscribers think its entertaining and fun to abuse, stalk and make people feel uncomfortable for simply doing their job and its a shame that we have fallen so much as a society that this is now acceptable form of entertainment.
Great article! This guy is clearly a grifter, and is actually hiding behind the first amendment to harass people along with other so-called auditors. I’m glad a real journalist is exposing a fake one. Good job!
Sara Rubin a self-described "journalist" newest article is full of inaccuracies or to use a non "Jounalist" elite term lies. And as a self-proclaimed "Jounalist" she seems unaware that every American has the exact same first amendment rights as her. Aside from all the inaccuracies doesn't she get paid by her employer for her "journalism"? Why would it be any different for any other journalism medium?
Anyway, check out the actual audit and compare with what actually happened to the article.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxCU_6PU_n4&t=369s
You know what else IS legal? Being kind, having empathy, self respect, treating people like we live in a civilized society, entering buildings that serve a specific purpose, FOR that purpose, those things are all legal, why can't an "auditor" do any of those things.
Your response is a complete straw man
Sara seems to forgotten the 1st Amendment. So here it goes, The First Amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
If City, County and State workers are all public servants, they forget they work for “We the People.” “We the People” have every right to walk into “Our” buildings to see how our tax dollars are being spend. Sara, you are a bootlicker.
Sara got this all wrong. I think an apology should be published for the misinformation and bias of this article. Fact's and the full events have been ignored and making someone who is ensuring our constitutional rights are being protected. That government is not forgetting they are there to help the citizens. We need to hold our government responsible and they are expected to be answering to how they are spending and using our money. Examples of not doing their jobs because they don't like a camera is a great example of waste of our money because they are not performing their duties and serving the public (just because he has a camera). Sara, you need to improve your fact gathering and presentation.
Protected, really? If he’s protecting the 1A, please explain why cities are passing laws that restrict filming? Please explain why the courts are ruling the laws as constitutional????
She should write and apology for actually doing a constitutionally protected activity? Hmm I think the fuk not trick ass bitch😂😂😂 notice how ridiculous it would be for me now to criticize anyone for having a fowl mouth? That's what this faruditor is doing crying my Rights actively trying to suppress others
Citizens don't have rights in the USA, according to Sara Rubin.
Freedom for me means being able to leave my home without a frauditor telling me if I Don't want to be filmed I should not go out in public. You want to take away my freedom to walk outside? Who is the tyrant? If I ask not to be filmed, you will FORCE YOUR WILL to film AGAINST MY WILL not to be filmed, WHO IS THE TYRANT?? Freedom means I can just live my life without having to worry some frauditor will pepper spray me if I have the audacity to let them know I don't like being filmed! WHO IS THE TYRANT??? Freedom means I can do my thing without having to worry about frauditors giving me unlawful directives telling me I can't just do my business at a kiosk, and I have to instead find a locked secured room in the back to maintain my privacy. WHO IS THE TYRANT????
Wow .. Where does Sara Rubin think she lives? North Korea? What a shame that she works for the media but doesn't know basic 1st Amendment rights. She is an example why citizens can't trust the media. Know our rights!!!
Agreed
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