• Mark Aguirre, a 63-year-old man accused of holding an air conditioner repairman at gunpoint in an attempt to prove an outlandish election fraud conspiracy theory, had his arraignment hearing postponed after he tested positive for COVID-19.
• The judge overseeing the case asked if the arraignment could be rescheduled for Friday on Zoom, but according to Aguirre’s attorney, Aguirre is not “doing well,” does not own a phone, and may not own a computer.
• According to prosecutors, Aguirre believed the repairman he targeted had been hoarding 750,000 fraudulent ballots which he maintained had all been signed by Hispanic children “because the children’s fingerprints would not appear in any databases.”
• After tracking the repairman for four days, Aguirre attempted to make a citizen’s arrest on Oct. 19 by slamming into the man’s truck and faking an injury before pulling a gun on him while two co-conspirators searched the truck. 
• Aguirre is being charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, a second-degree felony. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

Ex-Houston Cop Charged In Attack Over Bogus Election Fraud Plot

The Thursday arraignment hearing for a former Houston police captain, who was arrested after acting on what may be one of the most bizarre election fraud conspiracy theories to come out of 2020, has been postponed because he’s now tested positive for COVID-19.

According to his attorney who presented the test results in court, that man — 63-year-old Mark Aguirre — “wasn’t doing well” as of Thursday night. 

The judge presiding over the case asked if Aguirre would be able to appear Friday on a Zoom call. While Aguirre’s attorney said he would try to make that work, he also claimed that Aguirre does not own a phone and said he was not sure if Aguirre owns a laptop, either. 

On Tuesday, Aguirre was arrested nearly two months after he violently held a man at gunpoint while trying to prove that the 2020 Presidential Election had been rigged against President Donald Trump.

According to prosecutors, in October, Aguirre and two other unidentified people reportedly tracked a man for four days on the suspicion that he was hiding 750,000 fraudulent ballots in his truck and home. Prosecutors have also claimed that Aguirre believed these ballots had all been signed by Hispanic children “because the children’s fingerprints would not appear in any databases.”

Aguirre also allegedly believed that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had given the man, David Zuniga, $9.37 billion for “ballot harvesting.”

With that information in hand, Aguirre then reached out to three different Texas law enforcement agencies — the Texas Office of the Attorney General, the Texas Rangers, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. His concerns were rejected by all three. 

Following Aguirre’s call with the attorney general’s office, Lt. Wayne Rubio alerted police that Aguirre might try to “handle” the situation on his own. In fact, according to prosecutors, that’s exactly what he did.

Early in the morning on Oct. 19, Zuniga noticed a black SUV swerve into his lane while he was driving. According to prosecutors, Zuniga just barely avoided getting hit by the SUV.

A few seconds later, the SUV then allegedly slammed into the back of Zuniga’s truck. From there, Zuniga pulled off the side of the road and got out of his truck to check on the SUV driver. That’s when Aguirre reportedly stepped out of the SUV while faking an injury.

“He said, ‘Help me! Help me!’ with his hand inside his coat,” Zuniga told KPRC News. “Then when I tried to help him, he pulls out a gun. That is when I was told to get on the ground.”

As Zuniga complied, Aguirre then pushed his knee into Zuniga’s back as two other unidentified co-conspirators arrived on the scene and searched Zuniga’s truck before driving away with it.

The truck was later found abandoned a few blocks away, but notably, no ballots were ever discovered in Zuniga’s truck or home. In fact, the Harris County district attorney’s office has described Zuniga as an “innocent and ordinary” air conditioner repairman.

Aguirre now faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

Aguirre Was Paid $266,000 to Investigate Fraud

Aguirre is believed to have been paid $266,400 by the group Liberty Center for God and Country to investigate election fraud claims. Court records indicated $211,400 of that was given to Aguirre on Oct. 20, one day after he held Zuniga at gunpoint.

The group’s CEO, Steve Hotze, is an active GOP donor and was a major figure in trying to restrict 2020 voting efforts in Texas. 

Alongside State. Rep Steve Toth (R), Hotze joined a lawsuit that unsuccessfully attempted to throw out nearly 127,000 Harris County ballots just before Election Day. Notably, those ballots were cast at drive-thru polling sites, which were established to provide a safe voting experience for people who might be nervous about going to traditional polling locations during the coronavirus pandemic.

In another lawsuit, Hotze failed to stop Gov. Greg Abbott (R) from extending the state’s early voting period, which was also a response to the pandemic. At the time, Aguirre provided an affidavit with that lawsuit, claiming he was investigating a “wide-ranging and fraudulent ballot harvesting scheme” in Harris County.

In 2017, Hotze — who is intensely opposed to same-sex marriage and trans rights — also backed an unsuccessful piece of Texas legislation aimed at keeping transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity.

During this past summer’s protests over the in-custody killing of George Floyd, Hotze infamously left a voicemail for Abbott’s chief of staff, in which he said:

“I want to make sure that [Abbott] has National Guard down here and they have the order to shoot to kill if any of these son-of-a-bitch people start rioting like they have in Dallas, start tearing down businesses — shoot to kill the son of a bitches. That’s the only way you restore order. Kill ’em. Thank you.”

Unlike Aguirre, the Liberty Center for God and Country hasn’t been implicated in the attack against Zuniga. Reportedly, Aguirre was only one of 20 investigators it hired to look into election fraud claims in Texas. As Hotze’s attorney also claimed, the CEO “did not direct or lead any of the investigations.” 

“Unless there is evidence that tends to connect Dr. Hotze or anybody else to the commission of this aggravated assault, that is the beginning and the end of this matter,” Brian Wice, a legal analyst for KPRC News, said. 

What About Aguirre’s Conspirators?

Attorneys are still trying to determine the identities of Aguirre’s co-conspirators, but that’s been made difficult because since being arrested, Aguirre has claimed he doesn’t know who they are.

“This is a political prosecution,” Aguirre’s attorney said of the charges against his client. “Retaliation for the investigation that was being done.”

Aguirre worked for the Houston Police Department for 24 years but was fired in 2003 following a controversial raid at a Kmart parking lot.

On Tuesday, the same day he was arrested for the attack against Zuniga, Aguirre was released from jail on $30,000 bond. 

See what others are saying: (KPRC) (CNN) (Texas Tribune)