Ozaukee County vs. Jose Maria Decastro (2023TR002643)

On October 18, 2023, after what could be called an unsuccessful trip to Michigan to disrupt a government meeting, Mr. DeCastro was pulled over by police in Wisconsin in his rental car in the early morning hours. He recorded part of his interaction with the officer and, true-to-form, appeared agressive and forceful when communicating with the officer. While he preaches to his YouTube followers to always remain silent and not interact with the police, Mr. DeCastro's video appears to show him doing otherwise. While issuing a citation is at the officer's discresion, and often an equipment violation on a rental car may simply generate a warning, the officer in this case elected to issue Mr. DeCastro a citation.

On November 7, 2023, Jose DeCastro did not attend court but appears to have entered a 'No Contest' plea. At that time a default judgement of GUILTY was entered and a fine of $162.70 was issued. The fine was paid prior to the due date.

There has been speculation as to who paid the fine, Mr. DeCastro or the rental car company. In Mr. DeCastro's video he shows the lights operating at some point during the stop. If the light were off prior and on later, it suggests the issue may have been an operator error. As a rental car company would probably cover defective equipment, Mr. DeCastro's own video suggests that he would have been responsible for payment and not the rental car company.