LIVONIA, Mich. \u2013 Several women have come forward to share concerns about a social media content creator filming them without their consent. But officials said he\u2019s not breaking the law.<\/p>\n
Livonia police investigated complaints tied to the social media videos.<\/p>\n
A woman, who chose to remain anonymous, said she was followed by a man at a Target in Livonia. She told Local 4 that the man tried to hit on her and made her \u201cextremely uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
She then learned that her awkward conversation with the man was posted on his social media page without her knowledge, recorded with his Meta glasses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed he wasn\u2019t pushing a cart, he didn\u2019t have a basket, he had nothing in his hands. He was clearly there for that reason, which makes it even more uncomfortable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She is not the only woman the man has encountered and recorded.<\/p>\n
Concerns erupted when residents posted on a Livonia community Facebook page about a man recording women and children in Metro Detroit stores without their knowledge while talking to them.<\/p>\n
Two women, who chose to remain anonymous, spoke to Local 4 about their encounter with the man.<\/p>\n
The two people who filed an incident complaint to police on Dec. 15 are part of a Livonia community Facebook page.<\/p>\n
They were concerned about a man who went by Tom Rizz online, who recorded women and children with his Meta glasses and posted the recordings on his social media.<\/p>\n
His TikTok page has over 52,000 followers with 1.3 million likes.<\/p>\n
They said women were posting on the Livonia Facebook group about the man, saying they were uncomfortable and asking whether other women had encountered him.<\/p>\n
They said women who encountered the man had to be escorted to their cars because of how uncomfortable they felt.<\/p>\n
They said the man was in the Livonia Facebook group and argued with people in the comments, leading to him doxxing some women who disagreed with his content.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been removed from the group. However, he posted the personal information of two of the group members on his TikTok account, including their addresses and workplaces, and criticized one of the women\u2019s appearances.<\/p>\n
The two women reported him to the police, but officers told them there wasn\u2019t much they could do.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe seems to think he\u2019s untouchable,\u201d one of the women said in an interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe should have some compassion for people,\u201d she said. \u201cYou really want to spread joy? Do something positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such an invasion of privacy,\u201d the other woman said.<\/p>\n
Another woman who appears in one of the videos told Local 4 anonymously that she \u201cdid not consent to being deceived, recorded, or used as material for online ridicule.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscovering that this interaction was intentionally staged and publicly disseminated without my knowledge or consent left me feeling angry, violated, humiliated, and shaken,\u201d she said. \u201cThis behavior reflects a well-documented pattern involving multiple women, courtesy largely of his own postings. It is not an isolated incident, and it is not harmless. I am speaking out to demand accountability and to stand in solidarity with the other women who have been targeted. Silence enables this behavior; speaking out is how we stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n
His side of the story<\/p>\n
Local 4\u2019s Erika Erickson went to \u201cTom Rizz\u2019s\u201d house in Livonia and spoke to him to hear his side of the story.<\/p>\n
Tom Rizz, whose real name is Charles TenBroeck, said, \u201cI think I\u2019m doing a lot of good, but I can understand why some people would not like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
TenBroeck claims he is a dating coach who encourages men to walk up to women in public. He believes his content helps men gain more confidence in approaching women.<\/p>\n
One of the questions he was asked was why he recorded children in a store and posted his interaction on TikTok. He said, \u201cThey are in public. They were disrespectful, they were rude. As an adult, we correct that behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I see behavior I don\u2019t like, as an adult, I correct it,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my First Amendment right, I know the law,\u201d he stated. \u201cI don\u2019t know how I\u2019m hurting anybody. I would love to hear that perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Continuing to defend his content, he said that he \u201ccan follow anyone I want in that store.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m allowed to film people,\u201d he stated. \u201cI can go anywhere I want; it\u2019s one-party consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was also asked why he doxxed the women in the Facebook group, he replied, \u201cMine was out first.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was also told that the women he doxxed felt threatened and unsafe that their personal information went public. He responded, \u201cWhy would they be scared?\u201d<\/p>\n
Man admits to disabling light on Meta glasses<\/p>\n
Local 4\u2019s Erika Erickson confronted TenBroeck about his Meta glasses not having a light when recording, since one woman reported his Meta glasses were recording without the light on.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I haven\u2019t tampered with them,\u201d he initially stated.<\/p>\n
After further discussion, he was asked if he was lying. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll come clean, I did disable the light,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n
When he was asked why, he responded, \u201cBecause I wanted to. It makes it more authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry I lied to you, Erika,\u201d he said. That wasn\u2019t cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
TenBroeck later said via email that he ” is always looking at [his] content and making decisions on what to take down and post. <\/p>\n
\u201cI did blur out folks on a video recently out of respect to a perceived minor,\u201d TenBroeck said. \u201cI took down the video of the kids on scooters after more research.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local 4 reached out to Meta regarding the situation, and a spokesperson provided the following statement:<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are responsible for following the law, whether or not they\u2019re wearing Ray-Ban Metas. Unlike smartphones, our glasses have an LED light that activates whenever someone captures content, so it\u2019s clear the device is recording. The content and associated accounts have been removed for multiple policy violations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meta spokesperson\u2018Did not meet elements of a crime\u2019<\/p>\n
According to the police report the women filed, and Local 4 obtained via FOIA, officers told the women who were being harassed that the man was not technically committing a crime.<\/p>\n
An officer reviewed TenBroeck\u2018s content on social media and found that his videos \u201cdid not meet elements of a crime.\u201d Another officer also said they did not find anything criminal in the social media videos, and stated, \u201ccitizens are frequently laughing in the videos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police said the case has been closed, but \u201cwould remain on file if ever needed for future incidents and documentation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is this legal?<\/p>\n
From a legal standpoint, Todd Flood, Managing Partner of Flood Law, told Local 4 the line between what\u2019s legal and what crosses into criminal behavior depends heavily on location, intent, and conduct. Flood stressed that simply recording or photographing someone in public and posting it online without their consent is not illegal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone\u2019s recording somebody in a public place, there\u2019s no expectation of privacy in that public place, so it\u2019s not a crime, necessarily,\u201d Flood said. \u201cThere are crimes when you\u2019re stalking somebody or you\u2019re harassing somebody and you continue to do it, or they tell you to stop and you continue to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Repeated violations can escalate into more serious charges, Flood said, particularly when minors are involved. He also said conduct that is clearly criminal would include filming intimate areas without consent, undergarments or filming in changing rooms or bathrooms, etc.<\/p>\n
Flood said posting or distributing images can also trigger civil liability.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he\u2019s doing it to make money, or if he\u2019s doing it for advertising, then there can be injunctions put up,\u201d Flood said. \u201cBecause he\u2019s now using your likeness, your personality\u2026 to make cash. So, if he gets any kind of money or remuneration for this, that\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some sort of perversion here of some sort of a guy that goes out and turns off his glasses \u2013 a recording device,\u201d Flood said. \u201cIf you can, get away, tell the person to stop, notify the police, if he\u2019s following you, immediately. Go to the store manager, because you could get a nuisance case against this guy, and they could file a trespass [report].\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the statements in one Livonia incident report that state no crime has occurred, Local 4 is told Monday that Livonia Police are continuing to investigate. If there is any unwarranted contact and\/or any potential victims out there, please call 734-466-2470. People can come to the Livonia Police Department and file a report or police can send a squad car out to their residence.<\/p>\n
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