Did an authentic news outlet report that the May 2025 expense report of the California Democratic Party showed it bought 200 pallets of bricks ahead of ICE protests in Los Angeles? No, that's not true: The story originated on a Facebook account that identifies the owner as a comedian working for Donald Trump. The bricks story did not include links to or copies of any documentation. The account had published a series of parodic fictional news articles mocking opponents of President Donald Trump. A California Democratic Party spokesperson said the party did not possess and had not purchased bricks.
The story originated in a June 11, 2025 Facebook post (archived here) on the CreepyJonathan account under the headline "California Democratic Party Faces Scrutiny Over Brick Purchase Amidst LA Protests". It opened:
A recent review of the California Democratic Party's May 2025 expense report has uncovered a significant and controversial expenditure: the purchase of 200 pallets of construction-grade bricks.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken by Lead Stories)
The bio information for that account (archived here) declares its owner is a comedian working for the administration of President Donald Trump:
(Source: Facebook.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)
Fanciful articles before and after the bricks story, posted under the Jonathan Gregory byline, include "Apple Quietly Tolerates Protest Looting in New Strategy to Signal Progressive Alignment" and "Investigative Report: Claims Emerge That Biden Died in 2020, Presidency Allegedly Run by AI and Deepfake Technology" and "In a shocking turn of events, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a prominent 75-year-old lawmaker, has been linked by DNA evidence to failed presidential assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, her biological son. "
Lead Stories reached out to the California Democratic Party (CADEM) for copies of its May expense report. Spokesperson Emma Lenz wrote in a June 12, 2025 email:
CADEM has not purchased nor is in possession of any bricks. Period.
The articles end with "@Newsmax", but when Lead Stories searched the conservative news outlet's website, Jonathan Gregory did not appear in the list of contributors and the site search box did not locate the story, when key words of the bricks story were used:
(Source: Newsmax.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)
Lead Stories reached out to Newsmax to learn if Gregory is affiliated or if the article had been published by Newsmax. The outlet responded only to say it had received the question, but did not provide an answer. We will update this fact check, as relevant, when they respond.
