Politics

Court Blocks ‘Melanated’ Activist’s Electoral Takeover Of Tiny Texas County

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A court ordered a social media influencer on Wednesday to stop offering free houses to attract “melanated” voters to Loving County, Texas, after a lawsuit from Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Malcolm Tanner, self-described leader of Melanated People of Power, is ignoring public health law by allowing tenants to move into homes that lack proper sewage as part of his publicly stated plan to change the small county’s elections, a judge ruled Wednesday. The order, effective until November 1, directs Tanner not to allow anyone to live at his two registered properties in Loving County while the court weighs Paxton’s lawsuit, which labels Tanner’s efforts an unlawful political takeover.

“The show is over. A court has ordered that this illegal and deceptive political sham must come to an immediate end,” Paxton, who is up for reelection in 2026, said in a statement. “Malcolm Tanner is a two-bit charlatan attempting to defraud people out of their money with false promises of free homes and unlawful government payouts. Texas is for Texans, not out-of-state grifters trying to steal political power from the people who live here.”

Tanner told his followers in social media posts in recent months to enter his online group chat to find information about his free homes in Loving County, which had a population of 64 as of 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Tanner boasted that he and his organization would “take the entire county over” by the 2026 elections, electing allies such as his daughter to local government roles.

Tanner said Thursday he will comply with the court order in a Facebook statement he shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation, accusing the county of trampling on his rights. He sued the local sheriff’s department in August for allegedly entering one of his houses without authorization.

“We are preserving every shred of evidence — every act of destruction, every trespass, every intimidation,” Tanner said. “It will be laid before the Court, and, if necessary, before the proper authorities, because justice must not only be sought — it must be proved.”

The Facebook post included a picture of what appeared to be wooden parts of a house lying in a pile.

“I came to Loving County with a simple vision: to build homes, to build community, and to live under the rights that faith grants and the Constitution protects,” Tanner said. “I believed, as every American has the right to believe, that land purchased lawfully could be used lawfully, that families could live in peace, and that children could grow in safety. Instead, what we built was destroyed. What we worked for was attacked.”

Tanner’s homes have no sewer access, septic systems or running water, rely on gas-powered generators and require use of a burn pit in the ground to dispose of waste, Paxton’s lawsuit claims. Some of the people he promised he promised are living in similarly squalid mobile homes, according to the attorney general. The lawsuit included pictures of what it claims to be the burn pit, a tent, recreational vehicles (RVs) and camper vans.

The lawsuit also claims Tanner used deceptive trade practices by promising free rent and charging renters later, and that his allies have threatened violence against local law enforcement and oil field workers. The court only ruled on Paxton’s public health violation claims Wednesday.

“The Property is also used as a meeting place for Tanner and his co-conspirators to plan organized criminal activity,” Paxton’s office alleged.

Tanner’s broader political goals include running for president in 2028 and signing an executive order to give black people $5,000 per month “for the damages caused by Democrats and Republicans,” according to his social media posts.

“History will record this struggle,” he said Wednesday. “And when it does, let it be said that in Loving County, in the year 2025, when families were harassed and homes were destroyed, we did not bow, we did not run, and we did not give up.”