HOUSTON — The Harris County District Attorney's Office has announced another charge against a former Houston police captain in connection to a 2020 attack over a false conspiracy theory.
Editor's note: The above video is from a related story.
Former captain Mark Aguirre appeared in court Thursday alongside activist Steven Hotze, the DA's office said. A grand jury found probable cause for both suspects to face criminal charges.
They're both indicted on third-degree charges of unlawful restraint and a second-degree charge of aggravated assault.
The former captain, 64, is accused of causing a traffic accident and holding a man at gunpoint in Dec. 2020. He was indicted the first time in Dec. 2021.
According to documents, Aguirre admitted to investigators that he had been watching the victim for days. He was a part of a private citizens' group called "Liberty Center," which was conducting civilian investigations into an alleged ballot scheme.
Aguirre is accused of running the victim off the road and pointing a gun at his head, believing there were about 750,000 fraudulent ballots in his truck.
Instead, the man turned out to be an innocent air conditioner repairman.
Note: The following video was uploaded in Dec. 2020.
Conservative activist Steven Hotze, 71, was charged in connection with the incident on Wednesday. According to the Texas Tribune, he hired over a dozen private investigators to look for voter fraud in Harris County ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Aguirre was one of those investigators. The District Attorney's Office said he was not working for Houston police at the time.
Hotze's attorney said the charges are "outrageous" and that his client didn't know about the attack until he read media reports about Aguirre's arrest.
The Texas Tribune Report stated that Hotze paid Aguirre more than $260,000. The former captain got most of the money the day after the holdup.
Note: The following video was uploaded on April 20, 2022.