A local Ohio fake news outlet has defended a man accused of trespassing and stalking Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) at his house with “serious issues.”
In a Senate floor speech in mid-May, Moreno described how a man from Toledo, Ohio, knocked on his door when he was not present and “was there to kill me.” He thanked God that the Westlake, Ohio Police Department is “90 seconds away.”
A Westlake, Ohio police report details that a 50-60 year-old man had traveled from Toledo, Ohio, to Westlake at least four times “looking for” Moreno. Three of the four incidents occurred between April 1 and April 5, 2024, with the individual even returning roughly two weeks after the first encounter at Moreno’s house on April 13, 2024.
The drive between Toledo and Westlake is approximately one hour and forty minutes.
A police report found on the April 1 incident noted that a “suspicious male repeatedly attempting contact” with Moreno, and offenses included a “suspicious vehicle” and ” trespassing.” Moreno’s wife, Bridget Moreno, said that the individual was looking to “make a appointment” with her husband.
April 1 Full Report by Breitbart News on Scribd
The April 3 police report found that the individual had been sitting in his vehicle outside Moreno’s residence and stated that he was “here to talk with Bernie Moreno about important information he had.” He had claimed that the allegedly important info was “too sensitive for it to be sent via email.” The police report said that the individual had “knocked on Moreno’s door.” The report further revealed that the individual had been “advised that he may be arrested if he returns to the neighborhood/property.”
April Police Report – Westlake Police by Breitbart News on Scribd
The same police report, other local agencies and the Secret Service were contact in an attempt to gather additional information on the individual.
A third “Call for Service Report” had been filed on April 5, as the individual had wanted to “clear up miscommunications that he felt needed to be said.” A fourth incident had been filed on April 13, almost two weeks after the initial incident on April 1.
On April 7, the individual sent a handwritten letter to the Westlake Police Department, he sought help from the police department to arrange a meeting with Moreno and said he had been dealing with “serious issues.”
Handwritten Letter by Breitbart News on Scribd
Dear Officer [REDACTED]:
I spoke to you this past Friday afternoon at the Westlake PD [Police Department] HQ [Headquarters] regarding an incident involving me and a police to [REDACTED] in Westlake on Wednesday, April 3 at around 6PM. I explained the circumstances surrounding that incident to you and I appreciated your help. You indicated I should feel free to ask you for any further assistance.
I explained to you I am dealing with some serious issues I am hoping to discuss with Mr. Bernie Moreno in person and that part of my troubles involve hacking of my phone + laptop so that secure communications are difficult for me. Accordingly, I was hoping you might be able to act as a go-between with me and Mr. Moreno to help arrange a brief meeting between us. Would you be so kind as to contact Mr. Moreno and ask if he is open to a brief meeting with me?
Because of the delicate nature of the issues involved, I am not sure who I can trust to help open communication channels. If Mr. Moreno is open to a meeting I am very flexible to a time and date and place, though I hope we can meet ASAP. I have have already made several trips from Toledo to Westlake trying to arrange a meeting with Mr. Moreno. So if you could help me out with this it would be very much appreciated.
I need to know:
- Is Mr. Moreno available for a meeting with me?
- Does he have a reliable contact in the Toledo area I can work with to help arrange a meeting?
- If not, what day and time and place is convenient for Mr. Moreno to meet?
I would give you a phone number or email to contact me, but unfortunately I do not have any secure means of communication.
I know this probably all seems very strange, but I am involved in a very real and difficult situation. I will try reaching back to you at the Westlake PD Office in the next day or so. I will probably call you either from an attorney’s office or a police department in my area. I very much appreciate your kind assistance with this. Hope to speak with you soon.
Despite the many “suspicious” incidents that have occurred between the individual and Moreno’s family, the Cleveland Plain Dealer went to bat for the Toledo man, stating that police reports contradict Moreno’s claim of death threats from this man.
Emails obtained by Breitbart News confirm that Sabrina Eaton, a reporter for the Plain Dealer, had obtained police reports about the incidents between the Toledo man and the Moreno family. This includes the handwritten letter.
Reagan McCarthy, Moreno’s communications director fired back at the outlet when the outlet asked his office for comment, “Leave it to the failing Cleveland Plain Dealer to defend an unhinged psychopath who drove halfway across the state to illegally trespass at Senator Moreno’s home, terrifying his family and refusing to leave until police were called to the scene. These third world intimidation tactics on politicians have no place in our society and should be roundly condemned — even by partisan media like the Plain Dealer.”
It remains unclear why the outlet would go to defend a man who repeatedly visited the Moreno household unannounced and under “suspicious” circumstances. However, it may not shock readers to discover that the outlet’s editor, Chris Quinn, has a history of personally attacking Moreno.
Following the failed assassination attempt against President Donald Trump’s life last July, Moreno slammed Quinn for his dangerous rhetoric.
Moreno said to Quinn, “When ‘journalists’ like you labeled Trump another Hitler and claim there will never be another election or that America ends if he’s re-elected, what did you think was going to happen?”
Quinn replied, “Yeah, Bernie. Stick with the fascist playbook. Try to blame journalists.”
The editor wrote an op-ed in March 2024, comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler and claimed Republicans in Congress are similar to German leaders who thought they could use Hitler as a means to power:
How are those German leaders different from people in Congress saying the election was stolen or that Jan. 6 was not an insurrection aimed at destroying our government? They know the truth, but they deny it. They see Trump as a means to an end — power for themselves and their “team” — even if it means repeatedly telling lies.He even compared the January 6 protests to the “most serious threat to our system of government since the Civil War. You know that. You saw it.”
“Our nation does seem to be slipping down the same slide that Germany did in the 1930s. Maybe the collapse of government in the hands of a madman is inevitable, given how the media landscape has been corrupted by partisans, as it was in 1930s Germany,” he concluded in his op-ed.
On the Today in Ohio podcast on May 9, he said of Moreno, “It is so shameful that he represents us. He’s not a bright guy and worships at the altar of Donald Trump.”
In March, Quinn discussed how Moreno is allegedly launching an “assault” on the Constitution.
It may not shockers to also find out that the Plain Dealer has drastically limited staff, having been reduced to a husk of what it once was.
In May 2019, the outlet laid off 29 employees, and much of the work will be outsourced to a New York-based company called Advance Local.
In 2020, a local ABC affiliate wrote in March, “The Plain Dealer as we know it is no more. Last week, 22 journalists were laid off. On Monday, the remaining 14 staff members with a few exceptions were told they could no longer cover Cleveland, Cuyahoga County or the state of Ohio.”
In April 2020, ten more of its reporters and photographers had been asked to be laid off.
Quinn claims that Moreno was “lying” about the threat against him.
“The partisan hacks at the failing Cleveland Plain Dealer are so deranged by their hatred for Senator Moreno that they’re defending a deranged lunatic who admitted to having ‘serious problems’ after he terrified Senator Moreno’s family at his home multiple times. Even for a liberal rag that exists solely to prop up Democrats, this is a new low,” McCarthy told Breitbart News in a statement.Now, Quinn claims that Moreno was “lying” about the threat against him. Quinn said on Tuesday, “But there are a whole lot of people that can’t reach Bernie Moreno. I hear from them every single day. I’m trying and trying and trying to get through to Bernie Moreno. He never responds. I just get his canned letters. So I’m not surprised that somebody frustrated by the complete invisibility and inaccessibility of this senator would show up at his house.”Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
