Good morning. It’s Wednesday, April 29, and you can expect a sunny day with a high of 75.
In today’s newsletter, Disneyland parkgoers decry new facial recognition technology, a palatial Bel-Air estate goes on sale, and a California data handoff could expose undocumented immigrants to federal law enforcement. But first, a fascinating deep-dive into the viral frat troll of UCLA.
It’s easy to hate on frat guys, and a Westwood man is going viral for doing just that. Joseph Freeman, known as the “I hate Sigma Chi guy,” is a bona-fide internet celebrity among college students across the country, filming and taunting fraternity members in candid street videos that have earned him more than 750,000 followers on social media.
He has at once attracted attention from frat bros who jeer at him online and sparked delight from people who love seeing the so-called popular kids brought low.
But unbeknownst to many of his followers, Freeman is not just an influencer with a confrontational M.O. According to an L.A. Material review of court filings and police records in four states, as well as interviews with more than two dozen people, Freeman has left a trail of disturbing phone calls and relentless online intimidation that has played out off screen for at least six years.
Some people who were targeted by Freeman said they feared for their safety, including a woman in Florida who told police that Freeman said, “You stupid bitch, I have your address and I know where you live.”
In Westwood, Freeman has upended campus life again and again, barraging students and sometimes even members of the UCLA Police Department with incessant texts and calls. Once, police said, he visited a students’ parents’ house in Manhattan Beach after calling him more than 100 times in two days.
Freeman categorically denied the allegations, telling L.A. Material: “You are absolute fake news.”
Freeman has never faced criminal charges in L.A. County, and no court case against him anywhere reviewed by L.A. Material has resulted in a conviction. That leads to the most vexing question of all: Why can’t authorities do anything to stop his behavior?
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READING MATERIAL
L.A.'S ZONE ZERO REVOLT: In case you missed our latest L.A. Material report, Laura Bliss unpacks how the state’s proposed “zone zero” fire regulations have been particularly controversial in lush L.A. The latest revision to the rules suggests L.A.’s garden defenders have gained ground in their fight.
SURVEILLANCE STATE: Entrances at Disneyland are now armed with facial recognition tech, which the park says it uses to verify tickets and crack down on fraud. The technology is increasingly ubiquitous at entertainment venues, but parkgoers and advocates told the L.A. Times that they have serious privacy concerns.
DATA HANDOFF: California plans to share detailed data about drivers’ license holders with a national database to comply with federal Real ID requirements. But the move could expose more than 1 million undocumented immigrants to identification by federal authorities, because the data will show who lacks a Social Security number, CalMatters reported.
NEW DIGS? A palatial Bel-Air estate with sweeping downtown views just hit the market for $400 million. It’s the most expensive home listed in the U.S. right now and features a Turkish bath, pilates studio, and an X-ray machine — along with the standard-issue tennis court and three swimming pools. The Wall Street Journal published a photo-heavy story on the manse.
VIBE WARS: Blackbird Spyplane sparked a familiar debate among L.A. Substackistas by having the temerity to examine whether the city is “in the middle of a prolonged mojo downswing.” No Bad Days wrote that the narrative centers “the city’s transient population” while ignoring “the Angelenos who don’t flee at the first sign of trouble.” The Eastside Rag was more pointed: “The opinions of ex-New Yorkers are not the only opinions of LA that matter.”
RAW MATERIAL
For today’s peek inside our subscriber-only Discord server, @wallsallaround has a restaurant recommendation.
AND FINALLY… A poem to pair with your morning coffee: “Salt Sky” by Alberto Ríos.
Thanks to the several readers who pointed out that yesterday's "Raw Material" license plate likely read as "Una o qué?" and not a particularly unique spelling of unique.
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