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Jonathan Rinaldi, 47, was charged with using artificial intelligence to create fake endorsements and news articles in support of his New York City Council campaign last year
Rinaldi is a perennial New York City political candidate and conspiracy theorist known for his black market sperm donations
In the courtroom on Wednesday, June 24, Judge Indira Khan reprimanded Rinaldi, warning the alleged forger “this is not a joking matter” as he smirked during proceedings
A perennial New York City political candidate and conspiracy theorist known for his black market sperm donations was arrested and charged for allegedly using artificial intelligence to create fake endorsements and news articles in support of his city council campaign last year.
Jonathan Rinaldi, 47, was charged by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz on Wednesday, June 24, with three counts of forgery in the third degree and 15 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree.
It is believed to be the first criminal prosecution of a politician for AI-related offenses in New York, according to The New York Times.
According to prosecutors, Rinaldi “routinely and deliberately created and posted AI-generated images on his official social media accounts that falsely depicted endorsements from individuals and organizations that had not backed his candidacy and in fact, backed the opposition.”
Jonathan Rinaldi.
Credit: Arthur Roldan/Instagram
Prosecutors allege he also falsely claimed endorsements from local elected officials and organizations, including the Queens Jewish Association, a local police precinct, a public elementary school and a nonpartisan Asian American political club.
All the charges are related to his 2025 New York City Council race, but Rinaldi has continued to use AI to support his campaign for the New York State Assembly this year and disparage his opponents.
In April, he posted what was allegedly an AI-altered video of his opponent, incumbent Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, saying “Forest Hills homeowners, I’ve been stealing from you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He also posted an allegedly fake video of Hevesi, a Democrat, smiling with President Donald Trump. The fake version of the president, whose voice does not remotely resemble Trump’s actual speaking voice, calls Hevesi a “king like me.”
On Wednesday, Rinaldi told reporters after his arraignment, “I posted stuff on social media. So they arrested me?”
“I’m allowed just like anybody else, to make any kind of content that I want,” he said, according to the Times. “And there’s absolutely nothing that anybody can say or do about it.”
He also claimed First Amendment protections, arguing “The First Amendment is absolute” and that “I’m allowed just like anybody else to make any kind of content that I want,” according to the New York Post.
PEOPLE has reached out to Rinaldi for further comment.
Jonathan David Rinaldi in a 2025 video by the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
Credit: NYC Votes and NYC Campaign Finance Board/YouTube
“Enough is enough. In today’s world it is important to hold people accountable for materially misrepresenting facts,” Katz, the district attorney, said in a press release. “As alleged, the defendant used AI to replace factual political support and launched fabricated attacks against his opponent as fact in a deliberate effort to mislead voters ahead of a City Council election.”
In the courtroom on Wednesday, Rinaldi was reprimanded by Judge Indira Khan as he smirked during proceedings, according to the Times.
“Sir, this is not a joking matter,” she said.
Over the years, Rinaldi has unsuccessfully sought political office as a member of numerous political parties, including the Republican Party, the Conservative Party, the Mad as Hell Party, the Medical Freedom Party and the Parent Party.
This year, Rinaldi ran as a Democrat in the Tuesday, June 23, primary, earning just 906 votes against Hevesi’s 6,749, according to the New York State Board of Elections. The next morning, he was arrested.
He told a Queens newspaper earlier this year that he plans to run on the “No Kings” party line in the November general election.
Rinaldi, whom the New York Post dubbed “The Sperminator” in 2023, has made headlines in New York for years as he has protested vaccine mandates and migrant shelters. He has also frequently had the police called on him and been hit with trespassing tickets for entering politicians’ offices to challenge them to debates or serve them papers.
Jonathan Rinaldi, a right-wing activist, tries to recover after being pepper sprayed just before he was to lead a small demonstration to protest a hotel housing migrants on June 4, 2023, in Queens, N.Y.
Credit: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty
In 2022, a Humans of New York post revealed that Rinaldi sells his sperm directly to prospective parents who are seeking to avoid the onerous costs of sperm banks and fertility treatments. He claimed to have fathered 12 children this way.
“My ultimate goal is to find two or three of the mothers who will be sister wives, because I’m gonna need help with all this,” Rinaldi told Humans of New York in November 2022. “But I know one thing: it will never be boring. It will be fun.”
Read the original article on People