Houston Police President Calls Ogg Flack’s Use of Fake Account “Inappropriate”
Perhaps no figure is more inspiring to a reporter than Clark Kent – a mild mannered, bespectacled journalist who changed into a caped crusader with all of his newspaper colleagues none the wiser. But none of those starry-eyed reporters took their admiration quite as far as former Houston Chronicle reporter and current Harris County District Attorney’s Office communications director, Dane Schiller.
Instead of donning a cape and flying into harm’s way to save innocent civilians, Schiller put on sweatpants, fired up his laptop, and donned “dudegoggles”—his fake online persona—to call judges that the DA’s Office practices before “clowns," discuss pending cases being prosecuted by the DA’s office; shitpost his boss’s political enemies; and make off-color comments about sexual crimes.
Unfortunately for Mr. Schiller—and for District Attorney Kim Ogg—this conduct resulted in both of them testifying from the witness stand for hours in a criminal case yesterday. Commentators say Ogg may fire Schiller over this behavior and that the fiasco could result in an investigation into the conduct of the District Attorney and her office. Here’s what you need to know:
HOUSTON REPORTERS AND COMMENTATORS WEIGH-IN:
The Marshall Project’s Keri Blakinger explained in tweet thread that Kim Ogg’s communications director was called to the stand in a criminal trial and forced to disclose that he’s an internet troll:
Nicole Hensley, reporting from the courthouse for the Houston Chronicle summarized Schiller and Ogg’s no good, very bad day:
“Questions about how the Harris County District Attorney’s Office handles communications related to pending criminal cases … brought Kim Ogg to the stand and dredged up her department’s internal memos about news coverage. Guajardo's defense attorney, Justin Keiter, quizzed a member of Ogg’s communications team on their handling of his client's case … and suggest[ed] that the office, at times, crossed the line beyond guiding journalists to public records to pointing out defendants to illustrate a [broader] issue … . Dane Schiller, who said he compiled the internal memos for district attorney’s office leadership, testified for more than four hours … Amid Schiller’s testimony, he identified his pseudonym used to comment anonymously on news reports as ‘DudeGoggles,’ with some remarks aimed at the topics of bail and the investigation into County Judge Lina Hidalgo's staffers.”
Michael Hardy, a senior editor at the Texas Monthly, openly wondered if taxpayers were picking up the tab for Schiller’s alter ego:
Murray Newman, a respected lawyer who runs the blog, LIFE AT THE HARRIS COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, live tweeted the testimony. He captured topics ranging from whether Ogg improperly uses private email for public communications to concerns about how many murder trials Ogg’s office has lost at trial recently to the District Attorney’s notorious stubborn streak:
LOWLIGHTS FROM “DUDEGOGGLES”, DANE’S FAKE PERSONA
Dirty Dane’s weirdo sex and prison rape jokes:
Reader Note: The Houston Chronicle’s article about this case quotes Schiller saying he can’t reveal what happened in front of the grand jury, but DudeGoggles isn’t bound by the same rules. So Schiller provides the details he told reporters he couldn’t provide.
Dane commenting on cases or people that the DA’s Office is actively pursuing, including a death penalty case; County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s staff; and Mayor Sylvester Turner.
HOUSTON POLICE PRESIDENT SPEAKS OUT:
Dane Schiller used his alter ego account to criticize the Houston Police Union, which is the voice of the women and men who serve in the city’s police department, for accepting a pandemic relief loan. Schiller wrote:
Douglas Griffith, President of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, told Houston Watch,
“It’s inappropriate for a government spokesperson to be jumping online and discussing cases or even suspects or complainants either way. You should be forced to use your real name, I don’t care what anyone says. That holds people accountable, right now people can go and say whatever they want, there’s no accountability.”
RESULTS FROM A HOUSTON WATCH READER POLL
A Houston Watch Twitter poll reveals that roughly half of voters believe Ogg will fire Schiller. The most popular response—representing 30% of those who voted—thought he’d be “shitcanned w/in 24 hours."
PREMIUM READER BONUS CONTENT:
Houston Watch wasn’t in court today. But here’s our interpretive reporting based on the vibes radiating out of the courthouse:
