Alex Rosen
Born (2000-03-15) March 15, 2000
NationalityAmerican
Years active2019–present
OrganizationPredator Poachers
Known forVigilante stings

Alex Rosen (born March 15, 2000) is the founder of Houston-based vigilante organization Predator Poachers (Kid Protectors USA), an organization that conducts sting operations on adults who seek sexual activities with minors. By 2022, the organization has claimed responsibility for arrests in 27 U.S. states.

Career

Rosen founded Predator Poachers at the age of 19 in his hometown of Houston, Texas.[1] The group claimed that as of 2022 its activity had led to arrests in 27 U.S. states.[2] The operations conducted by the group generally follow the strategy of creating a fake account on a dating app, waiting for an adult to message the account and then quickly disclosing that the account in question belongs to an underage person. If the target continues to message the account, the chat is then usually followed by a staged, real-life meeting with the suspect.[3][2][4] "We drop our age immediately. We don't give them any doubts as to how old we are," Rosen stated in an interview with Fox 40.[5] The organization is funded by membership subscriptions and merchandise sales on its website.[3]

Most of Predator Poachers' operations take place on Grindr, an LGBT online dating application. Grindr became closely associated with Predator Poachers' brand on its YouTube channel, whose banner featured an illustration of a smartphone displaying a Grindr conversation. In an interview with The Verge, Rosen stated that the reason why "we use Grindr as number one is because... I didn't have pictures of underage girls on my phone," he told the organization. "I do have a little brother though, and I did have pictures of him on my phone." Rosen's response was echoed by a member of another sting operation group from TikTok, who said that Grindr was a better option than other applications.[3] According to The Verge and Business Insider, Rosen has used racist epithets during some of his videos.[3][6]

When asked about the opinion of law-enforcement officials who say that such matter should be left to police departments, Rosen said that "every single department is either going to say nothing or discourage it publicly, but we've seen that departments that discourage it publicly will work to prosecute our cases". Upon being interviewed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the topic in 2019, some law-enforcement officers stated that the phenomenon of predator hunters can create a new form of mob justice and engender chaotic situations that should be left to professionals.[7]

In April 2021, Rosen staged a meeting with the internet personality Bryant Moreland (known as EDP445), who he alleged was messaging a minor on Instagram. The operation, which was recorded on video and published online, resulted in Moreland's YouTube account, which had over two million subscribers at the time, being removed from YouTube. Subsequently, Rosen's YouTube channel was also terminated.[1]

Politics

In June 2023, Rosen confronted COVID-19 expert Peter Hotez at home in Houston. The visit happened after Hotez declined to debate Democratic presidential candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. During the encounter, which happened at the sidewalk of Hotez's home, Rosen asked Hotez why he had refused to debate Kennedy and whether he believed in "vaccine injuries". Hotez responded that he was still considering debating Kennedy and said "don't come to my house" before going back inside. Later that day, Hotez stated on social media that he was "stalked in front of my home by a couple of antivaxers taunting me to debate RFKJr."[8][9]

Previously, in June 2022, Rosen published a video of himself confronting Republican representative Dan Crenshaw at the Texas State Republican Convention, calling him a "World Economic Forum sell-out", until being stopped by security.[8][10][11][12] In October of the same year, Rosen posted a video where Harris County officers told him that he had been banned from the Harris County Commissioners Court for being "disruptive".[8]

In a social media post published prior to March 2020, Rosen called his followers to help cancel a drag queen story hour event at an Idaho library. "I don't think that shit needs to be around kids, because kids are kids. They can't decide what their preferences are at that young age," he stated when asked about the post.[3]

In October 2023, Rosen heckled 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a Houston rally and accused her husband Bill Clinton of having visited Jeffrey Epstein's island "26 times". He was subsequently dragged out of the event by security.[13][14][15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "A YouTuber with 2 million subscribers was accused of messaging a fake 13-year-old in a vigilante sting operation". Yahoo News. April 23, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Wymer, Garrett (May 26, 2022). "WKYT Investigates Vigilante justice". WKYT. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Haasch, Palmer (March 18, 2020). "Viral vigilantes are turning YouTube and TikTok into a weapon". The Verge. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  4. ↑ Waterman, Cole (May 13, 2022). "Man, 61, charged with accosting children after sting by YouTube vigilante in mall". M Live. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  5. ↑ Nguyen, Jeannie (December 7, 2021). "Vigilante 'Predator Poachers' come to Sacramento". FOX 40. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  6. ↑ Asarch, Steven. "A predator hunting YouTuber and a man seemingly caught in a sting both had their channels removed by the platform". Business Insider. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  7. ↑ Heffernan, Erin (August 2, 2023). "Filmed 'Predator Poacher' sting leads to enticement charges against Villa Ridge couple". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 Munce, Megan Fan (June 19, 2023). "COVID-19 expert Peter Hotez harassed outside his home by anti-vaccine advocates". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  9. ↑ Maruf, Ramishah (June 19, 2023). "A prominent vaccine scientist says he was 'stalked' in front of home after Joe Rogan Twitter exchange | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  10. ↑ Joyce, Kathryn (June 22, 2022). "Lone Star hate: Right-wing activists in Texas drive a new wave of anti-LGBTQ bigotry". Salon. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  11. ↑ Howe, Caleb (June 18, 2022). "Dan Crenshaw, Staff Physically Attacked by Group Shouting 'Eyepatch McCain' at GOP Event". Mediaite. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  12. ↑ Landen, Xander (June 18, 2022). "Dan Crenshaw Confronted by Angry Republicans Calling Him 'Globalist RINO'". Newsweek. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Who Is Alex Rosen? Man Thrown Out Of Hillary Clinton's Rally For Yelling 'Jeffrey Espstein'". TimesNow. October 28, 2023. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Video: Man dragged out of Hillary rally after question on Bill Clinton's visit to Epstein's island". WION. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  15. ↑ "'Crazed' man forcibly removed from Hillary Clinton event over Bill's Epstein island visits". The Economic Times. October 30, 2023. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
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