Sheriff doubles down on arrest, cites state penal code
A Texas sheriff’s office is doubling down after deputies arrested a local activist and Navy veteran after he posted a satirical meme on social media.
Hood County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kolton Krottinger, 38, of Granbury, on Nov. 5 for felony online impersonation after he allegedly created an Oct. 2 Facebook post that appeared to come from another local activist, showing her endorsing Granbury ISD school board candidate Monica Brown.
On his Facebook page, Krottinger is listed as the founder of Blue Branch Historic Ranch, a mental health retreat for veterans and first responders, and the owner of the Anxiety Hackers cannabis dispensary in Oklahoma.
According to a criminal complaint, the alleged victim, Tina Brown, contacted authorities about the post, stating that she did not support Monica Brown and “that the public is being misled by the post as to what [Brown’s] actual beliefs are concerning this particular election race.”
The complaint — which says the alleged victim obtained a search warrant for Facebook owner Meta, and later identified Krottinger as the owner of the Hood County Sheepdogs Facebook page — alleges the post was made “without obtaining the other person’s consent and with the intent to defraud the general public against the peace and dignity of the state.”
Texas Penal Code 33.07 prohibits using another person’s name or persona online “without obtaining the other person’s consent and with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate, or threaten any person.”
On Monday, Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds issued a public statement acknowledging “numerous social media posts” involving “bullying, harassment, threats and similar [acts]” directed at county residents. “Much of what is posted online is protected by the 1st Amendment,” Deeds wrote, “but these acts may sometimes constitute a criminal offense, such as the example below, from a recent and notable case.”
Deeds also encouraged citizens to file offense reports, stating that “any crime reported to the Sheriff’s Office will be investigated to the fullest extent of the law.”
In what appeared to be his first public comments since his arrest, Krottinger said it’s “been a long, humbling several days since my arrest,” and he’s still in shock over being placed in handcuffs for a social media post.
“I never imagined that exercising my right to free speech … something I swore to defend could land me in handcuffs,” he wrote Nov. 12. “But here we are … this experience has deepened my appreciation for our freedoms … especially the ones so many take for granted. The First Amendment isn’t just words on paper. It’s what separates us from tyranny.”
The arrest has caught the attention of several local and state officials, including former Hood County GOP Chair Nate Criswell, who launched online petitions on Change.org and GiveSendGo to drop the charges and urged District Attorney Ryan Sinclair to dismiss the case.
“Unfortunately, I believe the arrest and jailing of Kolton Krottinger is simply the latest in a series of incidents in Hood County that appear to be orchestrated to silence the voice of a segment of our population,” Criswell said in a Nov. 10 post. “… These actions seem to be devised to discourage a selected group from their participation in the political process here in Hood County.”
The Christian Post reached out Friday to the Hood County Sheriff’s Department for comment.
While criminal prosecution for social media activity is more common in Britain and other European nations, last month, authorities in Tennessee dropped a felony charge against a man who was jailed for more than a month over a Facebook post he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Former law enforcement officer Larry Bushart, 61, was arrested after sharing several memes mocking Kirk’s assassination, including one with President Donald Trump and the caption, “We have to get over it.”
