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A Biden administration official who caused a stir after he was appointed over his lifestyle has been arrested and charged with felony theft in Minneapolis.
According to reports, Sam Brinton, who initially made headlines as a “gender fluid” individual after getting a position at the U.S. Department of Energy, is charged with stealing luggage at the Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport. Earlier this year, Brinton took to Twitter to announce that he had been named the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition at the Energy Department.
“It’s official. As of June 19th, I now serve my nation as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy in the Department of Energy,” he tweeted.
It’s official. As of June 19th, I now serve my nation as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy in the Department of Energy. pic.twitter.com/zLq3Bf97X2
— Sam Brinton (@sbrinton) June 29, 2022
“As one of if not the very first openly genderfluid individuals in federal government leadership, I was welcomed with open arms into the Department of Energy all the way up to the Secretary whom I shared the stage with in a Pride month celebration panel just today,” Brinton added in a Twitter thread.
As one of if not the very first openly genderfluid individuals in federal government leadership, I was welcomed with open arms into the Department of Energy all the way up to the Secretary whom I shared the stage with in a Pride month celebration panel just today.
— Sam Brinton (@sbrinton) June 29, 2022
He also reportedly has a history of being a “non-binary drag queen” as well as an activist for transgenderism. He is associated with the Order of Perpetual Indulgence, “a non-profit group who dress up as nuns to raise awareness of sexual intolerance and transphobia,” the Daily Mail reported.
On Sept. 16, however, a complaint was filed at the MSP airport by a woman who claimed that her luggage was missing when she went to retrieve it at the baggage claim, according to a report from Alpha News.
According to reports, police checked surveillance video and found that Brinton removed the luggage tag from her bag, and then returned to the same airport two days later with the luggage.
Surveillance video also later showed Brinton with the same bag on Oct. 9 at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C., in northern Virginia, Alpha News added.
The woman said that the bag and her belongings inside it were valued at around $2,325.
Alpha News added:
The adult female victim said she flew into MSP on a Delta flight from New Orleans and went to retrieve her checked bag at carousel seven.
Airport records confirmed the navy blue Vera Bradley roller bag arrived at 4:40 p.m. but was missing from the carousel. So law enforcement reviewed video surveillance footage from the baggage claim area and observed Brinton removing a navy blue roller bag from carousel seven, according to a criminal complaint.
The complaint says Brinton removed a luggage tag from the bag, placed it into a handbag he was carrying, and “then left the area at a quick pace.” Brinton arrived at MSP Airport around 4:27 p.m. on an American Airlines flight from Washington, D.C., but did not check a bag, meaning he had no reason to visit baggage claim, according to the complaint.
Police showed the surveillance video to the victim and she confirmed it was her bag.
According to a complaint filed with law enforcement, Brinton left MSP airport with the bag in an Uber. He checked into the InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront hotel with the bag, surveillance video confirmed.
Police called Brinton on Oct. 9 and questioned him directly, asking if he “took anything that did not belong” to him.
“Not that I know of,” he alleged said in response, though he later admitted to taking the bag but claimed the clothes inside were his, the complaint says.
“If I had taken the wrong bag, I am happy to return it, but I don’t have any clothes for another individual. That was my clothes when I opened the bag,” he told police, the complaint said.
A couple of hours later, Brinton called police back to inform officers he had not been “completely honest” previously. He then said he took the bag because he was tired and thought it was his. He said he realized it wasn’t his when he got to his hotel, then “got nervous” and didn’t “know what to do.”
He told police he emptied the bag and left the clothes in the hotel drawers, but police later checked and said no clothes had been left.
“Brinton’s first court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19 in Hennepin County,” Alpha News reported.
