Latest news with #DOGECOIN
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Did DOGE Officials Raid San Francisco's City Hall and Demand Data From Local Officials?
Three men entered San Francisco's City Hall on February 14 stating they were officials with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and demanded access to city officials' computers. But neither officials with DOGE nor the Trump administration had any involvement in the altercation, which was later determined to be a stunt pulled off by online pranksters impersonating DOGE employees. The San Francisco Sheriff's Office confirmed that the men were not DOGE officials, and Danny Mullen, a YouTuber with more than 845,000 subscribers on the platform, uploaded a video on February 24, titled, 'Fake DOGE Prank in San Francisco (Liberal Meltdown).' The 29-minute video depicts Mullen, fellow influencer Leandro Dottavio, and a cameraman entering and wandering into both the San Francisco City Hall and Unified School District buildings, directing city employees to hand over information and instructing one official to insert Mullen's thumb drive into her laptop. Some internet users have posted clips of Mullen's video, seemingly mistaking the online pranksters for authentic DOGE officials. An X account with more than 1 million followers, 'Community Notes and Violations,' which has no official affiliation with the X platform, tweeted a clip of the video. While the clip features the pranksters identifying themselves as DOGE officials, the X account did not mention they were not real DOGE employees. On TikTok, one user with more than 100,000 followers—'Coach Chitown,' a self-described 'life engagement coach'—also posted a clip of the video, with the added text, 'Elon Musk's DOGE employees raid government employees offices.' 'Y'all won't believe this s—. Government employee offices was raided this week by DOGE,' he said in the video. He quoted one of the DOGE impersonators, incorrectly identifying him as an actual DOGE employee. 'Bradley from DOGE said, 'I don't need consent in Trump's America.' But hey, this is what America voted for. Now you ain't got no choice but to stick it out.' The same day that the pranksters entered the city government buildings, the San Francisco Sheriff's Office said in a statement that they were investigating the incident, adding, 'We do not believe the individuals requesting access to City files were representatives from DOGE.' Four days later on February 18, the office provided an update on its investigation. 'Upon review of City Hall surveillance footage, it appears that the men were wearing DOGECOIN (a cryptocurrency) t-shirts and non-descriptive hats.' It added, 'The men [impersonating DOGE officials] were verbally aggressive, insulted staff, and were unable to produce any formal identification; employees, therefore, did not comply with the men's requests.' Nearly a week later, Mullen uploaded the video of his prank onto YouTube. 'Elon Musk's DOGE is terrorizing public sector employees,' Mullen said at the beginning of the 29-minute video. 'Hopefully we have the credentials and the swagger as we go into City Hall and try and try to make things more efficient.' They also displayed clearly fake ID cards that featured profanity and graphic content. If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@ If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@
CBS News
20-02-2025
- CBS News
Men claiming to be from DOGE at San Francisco City Hall were wearing cryptocurrency t-shirts
Officials with the San Francisco Sheriff's Office on Tuesday confirmed that three men claiming to work for the Department of Government Efficiency who demanded information from city officials last week were wearing t-shirts for the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. The sheriff's office issued the update Tuesday afternoon, saying the incident that happened at San Francisco City Hall on Friday, Feb. 14, remained under investigation. The San Francisco Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the incident at City Hall where three men, claiming to work for the Department of Government Efficiency, entered offices on 2/14/25. The individuals demanded access to office computers and handed over a USB drive to… — SF Sheriff's Office (@SheriffSF) February 19, 2025 On Friday, authorities in San Francisco said they were investigating the incident that happened at City Hall at around noon. The men went to several offices and demanded employees turn over digital information"related to alleged wasteful government spending and fraud." In the update, authorities said the "individuals demanded access to office computers and handed over a USB drive to employees to upload information." It also noted that the thee men "were verbally aggressive" and insulted staff." When the men couldn't produce any credentials proving they were from DOGE, the employees "did not comply with the men's requests." The new details about what the men were wearing came from City Hall surveillance footage, the release said. "Upon review of City Hall surveillance footage, it appears that the men were wearing DOGECOIN (a cryptocurrency) t-shirts and non-descriptive hats. Due to the ongoing investigation, no further information will be released at this time," the statement read. Dogecoin was a cryptocurrency developed as a joke by software engineers in late 2013 and is commonly referred to as the first "meme coin." The original report from authorities indicated the men were wearing hats with the pro-Trump slogan "Make America Great Again," while the update indicated that was not the case. Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, the sheriff's office said no further details were being released at this time. The new information comes the same day a federal judge declined to stop Musk and DOGE from accessing data systems at seven federal agencies and firing or putting their employees on leave. California Attorney General Rob Bonta was among 14 attorneys general who filed a lawsuit last week challenging Musk and DOGE's authority to access sensitive government data. Operating under the direction of billionaire Elon Musk, DOGE was created by President Trump through an executive order he signed shortly after his inauguration with the stated mission of slashing federal spending. According to social media posts from the task force and Musk, DOGE is seeking to identify federal contracts and spending on issues that don't align with Mr. Trump's policies, including DEI and foreign aid.
