by Staff Reporter | May 13, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
A court rejected Republican State Rep. Rachel Keshel’s (R-LD17) attempt to stop an anonymous X user behind a months-long online campaign challenging her Legislative District 17 residency.
Keshel and her husband, Seth Keshel, claimed in a complaint that the anonymous online researcher operating under the name “William Coffin” (@CoffinItUp), is a Scottsdale horse trainer named Geoff Coffin. Coffin has denied being behind the account.
On Monday, the Pima County Superior Court dismissed last month’s injunction against harassment targeting the anonymous user. The court determined that the Keshels failed to prove that Coffin and Coffin were one and the same.
The anonymous “Coffin” profile dates back to 2020; the profile picture features William Sloane Coffin Sr., a New York businessman whom the anonymous user identified as an ancestor in an Arizona Agenda interview last month.
The Keshels alleged the connection between the two Coffins by comparing photos and an online map posted by the influencer to the location of Geoff’s home.
The anonymous user behind the X account told the Tucson Agenda that he lives in the Phoenix metro area.
The pseudonymous X account gained a following online through his commentary and analysis of public records on right-wing figures. Much of the anonymous account’s posts in its early years of existence focused on criticizing President Donald Trump.
One of the account’s earliest posts to gain some traction contained a tip claiming top right-wing influencer Dominick McGee — known as “Dom Lucre” online — was under investigation by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance for operating an unlicensed credit repair business called Credit Cadabra.
Over the last year, the account gained traction for his posts on perennial Texas candidate Valentina Gomez.
In recent months, the account has focused on Rep. Keshel’s residency—specifically, alleging that Keshel does not reside within LD17 but instead in the Vail residence in LD19 where her husband owns property.
The individual behind William Coffin also briefly maintained a Substack called “Corruption Duck.”
In the interview last month with the Arizona Agenda, the X user said that prior to focusing his research on Republicans and influential right-wingers, he focused on mortgage fraud.
“[I] started looking at mortgage fraud, and found that I could basically throw a dart in my neighborhood and hit (someone committing) mortgage fraud,” said the user. “It’s basically people buying houses with principal residence mortgages and renting them out the next day as investment properties.”
The Corruption Duck Substack, active from January to December 2023, was created initially with an intent for the author, “Will,” to focus on corruption and fraud in the nonprofit realm.
For the first few months of its existence, however, the Substack focused on investigating and reporting mortgage fraud in the Valley to authorities.
In mid-May 2023, the Substack pivoted to publishing exposes about Republicans and right-wingers, first posting about Dom Lucre and then another Arizona native and holistic medicine influencer Razi Berry (@BerryRazi on X).
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by Staff Reporter | Nov 18, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) will no longer be using X to stay engaged with the community, with the given reason being a lack of a “family-friendly” environment.
SUSD made the announcement last week, also alluding to board policy necessitating their ceasing the use of X. The district will remain on Facebook and Instagram instead.
“In line with board policy IJNDB and our commitment to safety, SUSD schools are stepping away from X to prioritize family-friendly engagement,” said SUSD. “For updates, find us on Facebook, Instagram, or visit http://susd.org. Let’s stay connected in spaces that uphold our values.”
IJNDB refers to policy on the use of technology resources in instruction. Per that policy, the district implements technology protections against visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or content which may be discerned as harmful to minors.
Yet, the district allows children access to sexually explicit books and content in its libraries and classrooms.
In stepping away from the use of X, the district also remarked that X failed to align with its values. In addition to protections for sexually explicit materials, SUSD holds values such as transgenderism in minors, social emotional learning, and critical race theory.
SUSD made their announcement a week after Election Day, when Donald Trump won the presidency and Republicans secured a trifecta.
Tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X) for the express purpose of preserving and supporting free speech following the 2020 election. During that election, the silencing of certain right-wing voices occurred under social media platforms such as Twitter and Big Tech companies.
SUSD lost nearly 500 students over the course of this past year, amounting to millions in lost revenue. The auditor general has scored the district as “high risk” due to its continued decline in enrollment. Enrollment has declined 10 percent under the tenure of SUSD Superintendent Scott Menzel, and reports have emerged of record staff turnover.
Additionally, SUSD spending on classrooms and teachers have hit another historical low for this school year: 54 percent versus nearly 64 percent from 20 years ago, just over the lowest fiscal year (2017, which amounted to 53 percent).
Parent watchdog group Scottsdale Unites for Education Integrity said the nine percent decrease signified a $40 million redirection of funds from academic achievement.
Menzel also enjoyed a pay raise earlier this semester despite falling short of academic performance goals: achievements in math, English-Language Arts (ELA), and science fell below desired outcomes. Over 8,000 students weren’t proficient in ELA, over 9,000 weren’t proficient in math, and over 12,000 weren’t proficient in science.
The only goals which Menzel accomplished were nonacademic, and they amounted to less than half of the goals set: increases in attendance rates, student participation in extracurricular and cocurricular activities, and certified staff retention; an establishment of a baseline for work-based learning opportunities and hours completed using Major Clarity; and production of a decision-making matrix and at least one proposal for action by June.
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