The Political Writers - substack

A journalist uses trademark law to fight back against a coordinated stalking network stretching from Wilmington IL to Clermont FL

October 5, 2025

What would you do if you logged in one morning to find your name stolen, your reputation attacked, and your identity weaponized by people you’ve never met. For me, this wasn’t a thought experiment — it was the start of a seven year, $9 million legal battle to reclaim my own name.

One day, it’s yours — the identity you built, the work you produced, the reputation you earned. The next day, it’s in the hands of people you’ve never met, twisted into a weapon against you.

That’s what happened to me. And that’s why I filed a $9 million trademark case in Florida against a network of stalkers who sought revenge against my whist;e blowing and them decided my name. My narrative — and my life — belonged to them.

Most people think of trademark law as something for corporations. Nike protects its swoosh. McDonald’s protects its arches. But what happens when your own name — the one you’ve worked under as a journalist — is hijacked, smeared, and exploited to silence you?

My answer: you trademark it.

By filing for federal protection of my name, I forced the stalking and targeted problem into a legal framework because law enforcement was complicit. This wasn’t just harassment anymore. This was an act of identity theft, brand destruction, and unlawful enrichment.  

They reframed by life and identity into a twisted reality they wanted for me.  On their Meta pages made solely for this purpose, they declared I was unemployed, broke, lacking education, not well liked, a liar, not a credible journalist, or faithful woman, a drug addict, mentally unstable, and numerous posts calling out every part of my body, hair, makeup, etc in over a million posts.

When their narrative about me wasn’t believed, they tried to make it real.  False arrests, false injunctions, blocking all income, frivolous lawsuits intended to harm, and gathering as many others to join in until the entire group was others scorned by my investigative journalism reports and an ex-Domestic Partner scorned by child visitation filings.   

When I attempted to state the facts of who I was, proud of my education, volunteer work, career and parenting, they threatened me to silence by targeting my minor daughters.  

One of those in the group was a former corrupt States Attorney from IL. Corrupt law enforcement was Incentivize, the courts called with false pretrial violations, mass dissemination of my mug shots from their false police reports, tainting of the States Attorney and Judges offices, and attempted court extortion. My name and image was the only thing in their life to make them popular and they were on a mission to hold that narrative and me hostage for life. They engaged my HOA board Director to stalk and harass me when stalking would not yield new images. She engaged other neighbors, leading to group stalking, unfair treatment, and HOA Attorney threats to take my home.

’And the damages — lost contracts, reputational harm, security costs, and business interference — added up to astronomical amounts that would clog any court system. To file the case, I narrowed it down to the month of July 2025, and the total of useage $9 million .  Despite the ongoing slaghter of my name for seven years, I chose,  to focus on one month of damages.

The case centers on three women: Teresa Bhoj, Cynthia Brzana-Grant, and Becky Becker. Together, they form what I call “The Illinois Disinformation Agents.”

What they’ve built is more than a neighborhood feud or online bullying. It’s a stalking rig—a coordinated harassment machine that stretches across state lines, operating in Wilmington, Illinois, and Clermont, Florida.

Their tactics are relentless. They don’t just post insults online. They call employers to sabotage jobs. They pressure family members. They hack into personal devices, surveil homes, and even manipulate court cases. The goal is always the same: create chaos, isolate the target, and bury them under a fog of doubt.

In Wilmington, one neighbor reported break-ins, tampering with electronics, and constant monitoring of his devices and vehicle. They branded him a criminal and rallied his neighborhood to stalk “the monster.” His only real offense? Moving into the wrong house with internet access they wanted to exploit.

Another man was branded a "Pedo" to get acceptance to her assault charges, breaking in his home, shooting a gun into his window and sextorting his daughter to silence his knowledge.

The playbook is familiar. When they want to destroy someone, they hang a label around their neck—“pedo,” “crazy,” “druggie.” The uglier the accusation, the more effective the smear. Few people stop to question the story once the rumor spreads.

I lived in FL but worked in IL. They targeted my work and my personal life, dragging anyone connected to me into their scheme. They weaponized an unstable neighbor to stalk, snap photos, and rewrite the story of who I was in my own community—covering up her own misconduct in the process. My life was invaded since 2018 when I requested a FOIA during an investigation.  The request got to close to exposure. I deal with daily attacks still. My life revolves around 13 open court cases, each case demonstrating as Plaintiff the harm they caused me or as Defendemt when they use the courts to extort or silence me.

The aim never changes: track me, drain my finances, erase my credibility, and stoke public hostility. It’s a modern form of stochastic terrorism—using the internet to manipulate strangers into acting out hostility in real life.

Disinformation agents rarely work alone. They attach themselves to corrupt networks—political, legal, or criminal—acting as foot soldiers for intimidation campaigns. Their job is not to win an argument, but to destroy credibility. If the whistleblower or journalist becomes the story, the real criminals walk free.

It’s a formula:

• A cooperative attorney willing to bend the rules
   
• A fake news outlet to amplify the lies
   
• Social media sockpuppets to spread the narrative
   
• And someone desperate enough to carry out the dirty work
   

At the heart of this strategy is control. Control of what police, judges, journalists, or neighbors believe about a target. In my case, that meant attacking my income, painting me as unemployed, bankrupt, or unstable. It meant forcing false arrests and flooding the record with noise until the truth was drowned out.

Ironically, these disinformation agents are obsessed with names—stealing, borrowing, and impersonating them. When the rightful owner reclaims their identity, it rattles them. Being called out, even with clear evidence of their actions, sends them into spirals of reckless retaliation. They lash out, forgetting the simple truth: the name was never theirs to begin with.

On the surface, these are just three names. But the deeper story is about the legal enablers who give cover to this behavior.

Court filings and public records reveal ties between this harassment ring and an IL former State's attorney with a reputation now for ghost lawyering, intimidation tactics, and abuse of court filings to silence critics. While I will not name him here, this is the classic playbook: hide behind law degrees and loopholes while unleashing harassment by proxy.

The Attorney's agenda would not move very far if they didn't have their own press.  A group that calls themselves a watchdog organization in Illinois has revelead how effective they are at destroying others for the money.

This isn’t a one-off. It’s part of a systemic problem where lawyers and their networks use the courts not as halls of justice, but as weapons.

 Home intrusions: breaking into residences, tampering with electronics, leaving victims doubting their own security.

• Digital surveillance: embedding themselves into systems, tracking devices, monitoring movements.
• Social sabotage: cyberstalking friends and associates to learn my whereabouts and relationships.
• Reputation warfare: creating smear pages, false reports, and targeted defamation campaigns.

When combined, these tactics form a psychological net. You’re never sure where the next attack will come from — online, in court, or outside your own door.

 Some may ask: why fight back with trademark law? Because it’s one of the few legal tools available when stalkers hijack not just your identity, but your livelihood.

This case is about me, but it’s not only about me. It’s about any journalist, activist, or citizen who finds themselves under coordinated attack. When your name can be stolen and used against you, the question becomes: what protections do you really have?

Trademark law gave me an answer. It gave me a way to make clear that my name is mine, my brand is mine, and my story is mine.

 The $9 million figure isn’t random. It’s a calculated measure of damage — the contracts lost, the businesses sabotaged, the emotional toll, the reputational smears. 

But beyond the dollar amount lies something bigger: a precedent.

If courts begin to recognize that names, when targeted as part of harassment networks, deserve protection under trademark and identity law, then the balance shifts. Stalkers don’t just risk exposure. They risk financial ruin.

When I filed this case, I wasn’t just protecting myself. I was reclaiming my story from those who thought they could write it for me.

Because in the end, this isn’t just a legal battle. It’s a declaration:

Our names are not theirs to steal. Our lives are not theirs to weaponize. And our stories are not theirs to erase.

With this case, I intend to prove that.

Case #: 35-2025-CA-001999 Lake County FL

Stay tuned for more coming!