According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, it appears a Texas man took his own life because of a TikTok influencer’s videos alleging he assaulted a boy.
Aaron De La Torre, a high school football coach, committed suicide ten days after Tik Tok creator Danesh Norshirvan, known as @ThatDaneshGuy, published his first in a series of videos calling for De La Torre’s arrest and the Denton Independent School District to fire him from his job as defensive coach for the high school football team.
The Star Telegraph, reporting De la Torre’s death, wrote, “Videos detailing the alleged assault went viral on social media, collecting thousands of views.
“ThatDaneshGuy, a social media content producer specializing in exposing, targeting, and identifying wrongdoings, released a video from a bystander’s point of view.”
According to TikTok, Danesh has more than two million “followers” – which, like all TikTok accounts, is a combination of human and AI bots.
De La Torre was 49.
The incident that prompted Danesh’s videos involved De La Torre and a boy, age 12, at a Walmart in Hickory Creek, Texas, and moved to a nearby Racetrack parking lot.
Danesh was not present.
According to police:
“On Saturday, 09/28/2024, at approximately 1838 hours, Hickory Creek Police Department Officers responded to a 911 call and possible disturbance at the RaceTrac Gas Station (4320 FM 2181, Hickory Creek, TX 75065). The parties involved had left the original scene (Wal-Mart, 1035 Hickory Creek Blvd, Hickory Creek, TX) and relocated to the RaceTrac. One involved person left the scene before the officers’ arrival.
Officers arrived on the scene and observed several individuals reporting that an adult male subject appeared to have assaulted a juvenile male (12 years old). Additionally, many witnesses were filming the incident with personal recording devices. Officers located and interviewed the witnesses and received conflicting statements about the incident. Officers spoke with the persons directly involved and began their preliminary investigation. On the scene, the preliminary investigation revealed insufficient probable cause to effect an on-site arrest. There were no immediately visible signs of assault, injury, or other evidence to support an offense had occurred. The parents of the juveniles were called to the scene, given the information available at the time, and had their children released to them.”
The Walmart where the incident began.
The Racetrac where the incident ended.
According to police, no one suffered any physical injuries.
The First Video
The first of Danesh’s videos came from a video taken by a woman on her cell phone. She was screaming at De La Torre for allegedly assaulting a boy. The video does not show the assault. The woman apparently does not know De La Torre’s identity.
The woman who screamed at Aaron De La Torre and provided a film to Danesh.
Danesh published her video with commentary on TikTok.
https://frankreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Download-2.mp4
Danesh’s commentary included:
Dunton, Texas. This woman filming was driving into a parking lot when she noticed this very large man with a minor in a headlock that he was repeatedly punching and choking.
So she got out of the car and demanded he stop. Now, the abuser kept saying, “You don’t understand. He hit my wife.”
He’s trying to say that what I’m doing is okay, this is totally normal. But they didn’t hit his wife. They bumped into her on accident and apologized, but they didn’t hit the wife. I mean, that’s the kid’s side of the story.
If maybe he stayed around for the police, then we would get his side of the story, but he didn’t. So this is the only story we get. That’s what you get when you leave the scene of a crime.
Even if they did hit your wife on purpose, you can’t … grab minors and choke them and beat them up.
Danesh Specializes in Identifying People
According to court filings in a lawsuit in the US District Court in Florida, Danesh (pronounced Don-ish) Noshirvan is an “online entertainer and journalist.” His work consists of posting videos that “often depicts bad actors behaving badly on camera…which unfortunately in some cases, results in public cancellation.”
An Iranian American, he calls himself the “Shah of Daneland,” and his followers “Danelanders.” He prefers the term “accountability culture” over “cancel culture.” He started making videos on TikTok in 2020.
Norshirvan’s specialty is identifying people’s names, addresses, and employers, which he offers as a service since people who send him videos often do not know the identity of the strangers they film on their cell phones.
On his TikTok bio, he asks, “Need Someone Identified,” and links to his Venmo and Cash App.
Danesh also offers merchandise for sale, including:
Danesh Reveals De La Torre’s Name
In his first video, Danesh identified De La Torre.
After explaining how he did it, Danesh says:
“Hello, Aaron De La Torre. …. He works with children at a high school. … As a parent, if I knew that one of my kids’ teachers was in a viral video acting like that, I would be greatly concerned for the victim.
“There’s your name for the police report.”
He identifies De La Torre.
Calls and Texts Target De La Torre
After the video was published, De La Torre received calls, texts, online comments, and emails. A flood of messages and calls came to Denton Ryan High School, urging the board to terminate him. Another call for action urged the Hickory Creek police to arrest De La Torre.
The Hickory Creek Police issued a statement on September 30, 2024.
“The Hickory Creek Police Department has been made aware of content circulating on social media platforms depicting an encounter between an adult male, a juvenile male, and witnesses….
“This investigation is ongoing, and new information is being received. All parties involved have been positively identified and are cooperating with law enforcement. This will remain an active investigation until all evidence is collected and reviewed. Updates will be provided as the case develops. If you have any additional information regarding this case, please get in touch with us at cid@hickorycreek-tx.gov.”
Danesh Updates With Opinion of Severity of Incident
While calling for De La Torre’s arrest, Danesh published a series of videos, repeating portions of the video he received from the screaming woman, adding commentary to help the viewer understand his interpretation of the events.
He also provided an update on the incident, saying the assault was worse than originally reported and what caused the incident.
Danesh said:
A plushie was tossed in Walmart and that hit [De La Torre’s wife] by accident. Aaron’s response was to yell and curse at the kids, stalk them when they left the store, confront them down the street, beat them up, choke, and dragging them towards an unknown location away from the public. It is not clear at this moment where he was taking the kids before the woman filming stopped him. It is not clear what he was planning on doing back there to those children. I’m just so glad this woman intervened before anything worse happened. The victim has given the police the name I found. I will keep you updated.”
Witness Disputes Danesh’s Version
While witness’ stories conflict, one eyewitness told Frank Report that the boy threw something that struck De La Torre’s wife without causing injury.
De La Torre scolded the boy.
The boy allegedly replied, “fuck you dude, what are you going to do about it?”
They argued. De La Torre followed the boy and his friend out of the store.
A witness said Danesh’s version of De La Torre repeatedly punching the boy, was not what she witnessed. She said De La Torre merely grabbed the boy’s backpack to prevent him from running away, but did not strike him or physically injure him.
Police Close Investigation, School Does Not Fire De La Torre
On Oct. 1, the Hickory Creek police closed the investigation into De la Torre.
According to a police department press release.
“Investigators have obtained all known CCTV footage of the interaction between the adult and the juvenile male. The Investigator met with the juvenile’s parent and conducted a full case review with her, including all available videos and witness statements.
“After the complete case review, the juvenile’s parent decided that although she does not support the actions taken towards her son by an adult, she believes that no criminal activity occurred and chose not to press charges.”
The Denton Ryan School Board decided not to fire De La Torre.
Denton ISD released a statement:
“Given that local law enforcement has closed its investigation regarding an alleged incident involving an employee with no charges being filed, the district’s involvement in the matter is also complete.”
Danesh Amplifies Video Output on De La Torre
Danesh Noshirvan
The lack of arrest and firing caused Danesh to amplify his efforts. He released additional videos, blaming the school for a cover-up, and alleging De La Torre had injured another boy, dislocating his hip a year earlier, and the school was covering it up.
Danesh called De La Torre “a threat” to his “community” and vowed to get “justice” for the child.
https://frankreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Download-3.mp4
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https://frankreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Download-5.mp4
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Leads to Suicide
As the videos and the consequent texts and phone calls continued, friends reported De La Torre grew increasingly depressed and felt he faced mounting public pressure. Their accounts of de la Torre’s mental state are like reports of other individuals who say they experienced cancel culture.
As one commenter said on Reddit, “the town went insane at the word of a stranger on social media whose job is to rile up emotions and drive traffic to his page. The more angry and upset he makes everyone to more money he makes.”
At the peak of a perceived avalanche of hate, on October 8, De La Torre killed himself.
Denton Independent School District sent the Star-Telegram a statement.
“The loss of Aaron De La Torre is a tragedy. He was a husband, father, grandfather and friend to many. “Please pray for those whose lives he impacted and the Ryan High School family as they navigate this sudden and difficult loss.”
Danesh Blames Police and School
Danesh said the responsibility for De La Torre’s death lies with the school board and police.
In a video he said:
The death of this man is a deeply sad event and no one ever wanted it to end this way. My heart goes out to this family during this difficult time. However, my focus has been and will continue to be on protecting children, and families who have allegedly been harmed. These children deserve justice and it is important to remember the responsibility lies with the choices made throughout this case, the choice the school made not to act decisively and the choice law enforcement made not to pursue charges sooner. While his death is tragic, we cannot lose sight of the victims, who are children and whose wellbeing must remain the priority. Thank you.
https://frankreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/a630d9.mp4
Police Turn Their Sites on Danesh
Police reacted differently. They began a criminal investigation into Norshirvan.
Police declined to comment, other than to confirm an investigation, but would not say whether State Police and the FBI were also involved. Frank Report identified at least one investigator on the Danesh case is Jason Richbourg of the Corinth Police Department. Widely known in law enforcement and military circles as a quiet and formidable presence with a specialty in cyber crimes. His presence on the case suggests serious resources have been allocated to the case.
Jason Richbourg
A source close to the investigation who spoke under condition of anonymity told Frank Report that, based on the alleged connection between Danesh’s actions and De La Torre’s death, possible charges could include:
Manslaughter (Texas Penal Code § 19.04) Second-degree felony: 2 to 20 years in prison
Criminally Negligent Homicide (Texas Penal Code § 19.05) 180 days to 2 years in jail.
Stalking with Aggravated Circumstances (Texas Penal Code § 42.072) Cyberstalking that results in suicide could lead to enhanced felony charges, potentially elevating it from a misdemeanor to a second-degree felony.
Federal Implications
If the cyberstalking involves interstate or online communications, federal charges could apply under 18 U.S. Code § 2261A (stalking), particularly if the victim’s suicide is linked to actions causing substantial emotional distress. Federal penalties could include up to life imprisonment in extreme cases.
According to a source familiar with the investigation, if the allegedly lethal onslaught of calls and texts was a combination of humans and AI appearing to be humans, Danesh is “vulnerable” to prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth under 18 U.S. Code § 2261A.
An investigator noted that Danesh’s videos have caused many arrests, firings, loss of business, and people relocating, following the publication of his videos.
De La Torre appears to be the first time a subject of Danesh’s videos committed suicide.
Danesh said he has never encouraged his followers to stalk anyone, and that his work is protected under the First Amendment.
The question of criminality boils down to whether Danesh crossed the line from First Amendment to felony stalking if he used AI technology to bombard De La Torre, his family, his community, his employer and the police with AI calls and texts.
Programs and services can send 1,000 text messages per hour using scripts. Spoofing software can make text messages appear from different numbers. There are voice technologies that allow individuals to make calls using different voices.
These technologies can help a content creator create the appearance that there are many more people incensed by their videos and the power of their platform than in reality. To date, no evidence shows that Danesh used AI to enhance an attack on De La Torre.
De La Torre, 49, had a brief playing career in the NFL and in NFL Europe, and was a high school coach for 16 years. According to his obituary, he had been married for 25 years and had four children.
Lori and Aaron De La Torre
A friend of De La Torre and his wife established a GoFundMe campaign to benefit De La Torre’s family. Some 285 people have donated more than $45,000.
