by Matthew Holloway | Aug 8, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
In a post to X earlier this week, Chaya Raichik’s ‘Libs of TikTok’ revealed a now-deleted video allegedly created by an educator at the PPEP TEC High School’s Cesar Chavez Learning Center in San Luis, Arizona. The video urged teachers to “teach as hard as you can[.] So your students don’t grow up to be… Trump supporters.”
In a screenshot of the post, a man believed to be PPEP TEC High School teacher Edson Delgado, posting under the now-deleted profile ‘mrfacts5x’ wrote, in full, “This school year… Teach as hard as you can[.] So your students don’t grow up to be… Trump supporters. Make America Smart Again.”
In the caption of the post, he added, “If we don’t teach them critical thinking… someone else will teach them conspiracy theories. Let’s make America smart again.”
Libs of TikTok commented on the post, “Teacher at PPEP Cesar Chavez Learning Center in AZ wants to ‘teach’ students so they don’t grow up to be Trump supporters. Any comment @ppeptechs?? Do you condone teachers indoctrinating kids???”
The individual depicted in the post as ‘mrfacts5x’ bears a notable resemblance to Delgado, an educator who was honored by the office of Yuma County Superintendent Tom Hurt as doing “Great things at PPEP Tech!” In a March 25th post to Facebook and is identifiable through the certifications shown hanging behind him in the post to TikTok.
Several commenters on social media expressed reactions, ranging from concern to outrage. Political commentator Paul Szypula wrote, “Our schools are compromised.”
Columnist Emilia Henderson replied on X, “That teacher is PROGRAMMING kids with hatred for their own country. If PPEP allows this, they’re no school at all.. they’re a political FACTORY pushing Democrat obedience.”
Some critics of the TikTok post called for federal funding for PPEP TEC High School to be terminated, while others called for the teacher’s termination. At least one Arizona commenter, ‘JustADudeAZ,’ stated that he reported the incident to Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. He wrote, “Credit to Tom Horne for listening and getting back to me. He provided where to go to keep people like this teacher honest. If you see teaching like this you can report them directly using this site,” and provided a link to the Empower Hotline.
The hotline is “the forum to report about inappropriate lessons that detract from teaching academic standards such as those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than individuals and merit, promoting gender ideology, social emotional learning, or inappropriate sexual content,” according to the Arizona Department of Education.
AZ Free News has reached out to PPEP TEC High School for comment but received no response by the filing of this article.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Jun 30, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
U.S. Immigration and Border Enforcement Officers scored a major victory over cross-border drug smugglers in San Luis, Arizona, when they arrested an American citizen following a search of a suspicious vehicle. During the search, officers found over $1.3 million worth of cocaine bound for the streets of Phoenix and Tucson.
The incident occurred in the morning on Friday June 20th when the suspect, a 26-year-old male driving a pickup truck, attempted to enter via the dedicated SENTRI inspection lane from Mexico. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the SENTRI system allows for “expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers,” and requires, “all applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrollment.”
In a press release, Border Patrol stated that the driver, confirmed to be a U.S. citizen, was “referred for further examination after the primary officer detected abnormalities within the spare tire.” The additional scrutiny paid off when in a secondary inspection area, a CBP canine unit alerted officers to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle.
In the extensive search that followed, CBP officers located and extracted fifty packages of cocaine hidden in the vehicle, including those hidden in the spare tire. The estimated street value of the seized narcotics was $1,317,580.
Chris Leon, Area Port Director for San Luis, praised the officer’s work in extreme conditions saying, “The tireless efforts of our officers and drive to protect our nation in these unrelenting conditions of 100 plus degree temperatures prevented these dangerous drugs from entering our streets and communities.”
The suspect, whose name has not been released, was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations, while his vehicle and the drugs inside were seized. According to CBP, “Federal law allows officers to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by azfreenews1 | Jun 16, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Although two Yuma County women charged by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office with ballot fraud are scheduled to be back in court next month, two local election integrity watchdogs say the problem in their county runs much deeper, and it has garnered the attention of the FBI.
Last week Gary Garcia Snyder and David Lara revealed in a radio interview with Sergio Arellano that they utilized hidden cameras to record ballot harvesting incidents at two San Luis polling stations on Aug. 4, 2020, which was primary election day. The city of 33,000 is in the far southwest corner of Arizona on the Mexico border.
Among those seen on the video dropping off more than their one personal ballot were Guillermina Fuentes, a member of the Gadsden Elementary School District board in San Luis, and Alma Yadira Juarez. Both women have been indicted on a Class 6 felony of ballot abuse for allegedly collecting four ballots which were later processed and counted by the Yuma County Recorder.
Snyder and Lara, who are local businessmen, discussed the problem of fraudulent ballot harvesting with Arellano, who has testified at the Arizona State Senate about ballot harvesting in Southern Arizona and how voters can be taken advantage of, particularly in majority-minority areas.
Lara first wanted to clarify that the type of illegal ballot harvesting taking place in San Luis does not involve simply helping someone get their ballot to a polling station. Instead, it is much more insidious, he says.
What most people commonly think of as ballot harvesting involves a closed envelope with a ballot that had been voted by the voter. But the men say what is happening in some communities, particularly Latino and low-income neighborhoods, is the taking of someone’s blank ballot and signed early ballot affidavit envelope.
The ballot is then filled out and dropped off (aka harvested) without the voter’s input. Because the real voter signed the early ballot affidavit, there is no way for election officials to know someone other than the voter filled out the ballot.
“It’s done in such a manner that it’s so subtle and gradual that the community believes it’s the norm,” Lara explained. “They think that it’s acceptable and they think this is the way it’s done; this is the way you do things.”
Snyder said that among the videos he turned over to the FBI is one purportedly showing Juarez, 41, bringing multiple early ballots to a local San Luis polling station. The footage, he says, shows the early ballot affidavits were signed but the envelopes were not sealed. Fuentes, 65, is reportedly at the same table when the ballots are dropped off.
The women have been ordered to appear in Yuma County Superior Court for a July 1 case management conference. If they do not enter into a plea deal by that date then Judge Roger Nelson will set their cases for trial later this year.
According to Snyder, others in the San Luis area -including elected officials- have been fingerprinted as part of the attorney general’s investigation. He believes it is being done to compare fingerprint evidence obtained from ballots.
“Yeah, of course we’re a smaller demographic, less votes, less ballots but one ballots very important. It’s the integrity of our voting system,” Snyder told Arellano.
Ballot abuse can be done by local officials but also various staff members of non-profits which come into contact with residents, Lara explained.
“So what happens is this: you go to a non-profit, you know as a member of the community, and you ask for help,” he told Arellano. “It could be housing, it could be health, it could be whatever, filling out documents, you name it. When you walk in they will ask you, oh, by the way, are you registered to vote? Oh, well, no, I’m not. Is your family registered? No. Well, we can help you.”
After building trust with that staff member or the organization in general, the new voter is likely to seek help understanding the ballot. And that, says Lara, is when a new voter is told ‘well, don’t worry about it, just sign it and I’ll take care of it for you’ or they are instructed who to vote for.
“They’ve actually tricked the community in believing they’re doing the right thing, they’re voting, they’re participating, yet they’re not really informing the community that they’re being lied to, used, and manipulated,” Lara added. “San Luis is ground zero as far as voter fraud. That’s where it started in 1997. It has spread through the state and it was perfected in San Luis.”
Lara also noted how significant it can be for those living in smaller communities to preserve the status quo by what he called “the tricks of the trade.”
“Being a board member and especially if you have majority, if your party or your group have majority on the school board then you control each year the hires, new hires, rehires, contracts, fires,” he explained. “So what happens is if somebody wants a job — bring me your ballots, your neighbors’ ballots, your family’s. It becomes a web.”
He added that the same incentive presents itself for various city employees and those who control non-profits serving the area.
That prompted Lara and Snyder set out early on Primary Election Day 2020 to see what they could discover. They were ready shortly before 7 a.m. with Snyder hunkered into his vehicle with his camera at one of the polling stations. Lara left to keep an eye on the other polling station.
It was not long before Snyder had evidence of alleged criminal conduct.
“I pop in my iPad and put Netflix on so that [poll observers] think I’m just watching Netflix, but during that whole time I was recording any movement, any voters that would walk up to their booths,” Snyder recounted to Arellano. “And, yep, within 5 to 10 minutes after David left, the first crime was committed.”
Snyder later went to the other polling station.
“I found another criminal act,” he says, describing one incident in which an elected officials appeared to be “blocking” so another elected official could receive an unsealed ballot envelope.
Throughout the day Lara passed along Snyder’s videos to Yuma County Recorder Robyn Pouquette, who notified local Sheriff Leon Wilmot. It was not long until the FBI got involved, and then the attorney general’s election integrity unit.
Both men are hopeful many other people seen in the videos will be indicted. Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office did not respond to a request from AZ Free News for comment on the status of the investigation.
In the meantime, a recall is underway in the San Luis community to remove two city council members and all three Gadsden school board members. Fuentes is one of the officials under recall; if she is convicted of a felony -either via a plea deal or found guilty at trial- she will be disqualified from holding public office.
The experience has not soured Snyder on Yuma County politics. The Republican has announced he is running in 2022 for State Senate against Lisa Otondo, a Democrat who has been in the legislature since 2013.
