"We have finally been able to identify the man who took a swipe at the ABC7 Eyewitness News I-Team. We were questioning him about allegations that he paid the homeless to sign other people's names on petitions against the billionaire tax. For our report last month, we had a hard time identifying that man. But after the story aired, we started getting messages from across the country."
"I-Team's Dan Noyes was investigating a different story in San Francisco's Tenderloin when he saw a woman with petitions spread across the hood of a car. He approached and started taking pictures of the documents, when a man emerged from the passenger seat. MAN: "You're violating my privacy rights. Stay away from my car." DAN NOYES: "If you can see this--" MAN: "You violating my privacy rights.""
"Neighborhood advocate JJ Smith had already captured video of the man and his partner -- paying a homeless couple $5 each to sign petitions in other people's names. Smith approached the man. JJ SMITH: "You get $5 for doing it?" MAN: "Mm-hmm. Can you write neatly?" JJ SMITH: "Can I write neatly? Yeah.""
"After our confrontation, we tried to identify the man -- checked the license plate, ran facial recognition -- but could not confirm his name. Then, our story went viral, and we got a message from a signature gatherer living in the Midwest. DAN NOYES: "You watched the story, and you recognized him?""
A man confronted ABC7 Eyewitness News I-Team after being seen near petitions spread across a car hood in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. The confrontation occurred while the reporter photographed the documents. The man claimed privacy rights and denied paying anyone. A neighborhood advocate recorded video showing the man and a partner paying a homeless couple $5 each to sign petitions in other people’s names. After the confrontation, the team attempted identification using the license plate and facial recognition but could not confirm a name. The story later went viral, leading to messages from across the country, including a signature gatherer in the Midwest who recognized the man.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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