Utah ABC affiliate doxes paramedic & sends crew to his house, after hack reveals he donated $10 to a Kyle Rittenhouse defense fund

ABC4 reporter Jason Nguyen came up with his “scoop” after the Guardian newspaper included the name of West Valley City, Utah paramedic Craig Shepherd in a Friday article about police officers and other government employees who made donations to fundraisers for “accused vigilante murderers, far-right activists and fellow officers accused of shooting black Americans.”

The Guardian dug the names out of a data breach from a Christian crowdfunding website that was used to raise funds for Rittenhouse, among other controversial defendants. Nguyen took the hacked materials a step further, essentially doxing the paramedic. His report even included a video of the reporter standing at the front door of Shepherd’s house, with plenty of identifying details for those who might want to find the residence.

Nguyen called Shepherd’s employer and found that the city is investigating the matter, though it’s not clear what misconduct there might be to probe. The city issued a statement saying that it’s investigating but noting that “such a donation would be representative of personal actions and not those of West Valley City.”

The reporter noted that Shepherd used his work email address in making the donation. He ended his report by saying the paramedic won’t be placed on administrative leave during the investigation, implying that he had done something illegal or heinous.

Nguyen posted the story on his Twitter account on Saturday, saying Shepherd had been “caught” donating $10 to Rittenhouse’s defense fund using his government email address. The tweet was ratioed, with many commenters pointing out that Shepherd hadn’t done anything illegal or otherwise meriting scrutiny.

“A ‘data breach at a crowdfunding website’ is a fancy way of saying ABC4 is using hacked and unverifiable material to target a private citizen for doing something perfectly legal,” former US Senate staffer Matt Whitlock tweeted. Australian conservative commentator Rita Panahi quipped, “Have you considered a career in coding or renewables?”

Rittenhouse, then 17, was charged with murder after shooting and killing two men and wounding a third at a Black Lives Matter riot last August in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Supporters argue that he was being attacked and acted in self-defense, citing video footage of the incident. Democrat politicians, including President Joe Biden, have smeared him, without evidence, as a white supremacist.

More than $1 million has been raised for Rittenhouse’s legal defense, including $585,000 on the Christian crowdfunding site givesendgo.com.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!