A Forest Hills man who ran for City Council in Queens last year was charged with forgery on July 1 after prosecutors say he used artificial intelligence to fabricate endorsements from police officers, elementary school students, and multiple major news outlets, and to generate videos falsely claiming his opponent had dropped out of the race, according to the Queens Gazette.
Jonathan Rinaldi, 47, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint charging him with three counts of forgery in the third degree and 15 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced. He faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison if convicted on the top count. Queens Criminal Court Judge Indira Khan ordered him to return to court on August 19.
Between January 17 and November 4, 2025, Rinaldi posted AI-generated images on Facebook and Instagram falsely depicting endorsements from individuals and organizations that had not backed him or had backed his opponent, according to subpoena records and search warrants reported by the Queens Gazette.
On October 20, 2025, Rinaldi posted an altered Queens Jewish Alliance endorsement sheet that replaced the incumbent’s name with his own. When a QJA official called him about the post several days later, Rinaldi allegedly told the official he had to use “every available tool that’s at my disposal” because “you’re never going to give me your endorsement.” When the QJA asked him to take the post down, he allegedly replied: “It’s politics. I’m just using asymmetrical warfare.” He removed the post and then reposted it on October 29.
Rinaldi is also charged with posting AI-generated videos falsely depicting officers from the 112th Police Precinct and children from P.S. 101, a Forest Hills elementary school, voicing support for his candidacy. Both are public institutions prohibited from making political endorsements. According to the charges, none of the people depicted actually worked at the precinct or attended the school.
On October 4, 2025, he allegedly posted a fake New York Post article claiming that former City Council Member Robert Holden had crossed party lines to endorse him, with a fabricated byline attributed to Holden’s then-chief-of-staff. Records show that about two hours before the post went up, Rinaldi had Googled “bob holden endorses” and then prompted an AI platform to swap his own face into a photo with Holden.
Rinaldi also fabricated attacks against his opponent, incumbent council member Lynn Schulman. On October 6, 2025, he allegedly used Google Gemini to place a photo from Schulman’s official Instagram account onto a fake Amsterdam News article, producing a post that falsely claimed she had been “questioned by police for hacking,” according to the Queens Gazette.
He also allegedly posted multiple fabricated pieces claiming Schulman had dropped out of the race. On October 24, 2025, Rinaldi published a video generated with Sora, an OpenAI tool, captioned “Breaking news: Lynn Schulman drops out of race for city council.” The video depicted a simulated news anchor announcing Schulman’s withdrawal and quoting her as saying the pressure from the community had “become impossible to ignore.” He posted similar fake articles bearing CNN and Daily News branding and produced two additional videos mimicking broadcast news segments making the same false claim.
DA Katz said in a statement reported by the Queens Gazette: “As alleged, the defendant used AI to replace factual political support and launched fabricated attacks against his opponent as fact in a deliberate effort to mislead voters ahead of a City Council election. Anyone who uses emerging technology to commit fraud against the voters of this borough will be held to account.”
Rinaldi was arrested on June 24 by members of the Queens District Attorney’s Detective Bureau.
Featured image: Courtesy x.com
