Florida Man Charged With Threatening Sheriff in AI Image

Just yesterday, PetaPixel reported that a man in Singapore faces up to 10 years in jail for posting an AI-generated image of a crocodile. Now a Florida man is also behind bars for sharing a synthetic image.

The case against Christopher Ashley Nimmons is arguably more sinister as he allegedly shared an AI image that depicted Lee County Sheriff Camine Marceno in full uniform with a head injury, fleeing two gunmen.

The image was shared beneath a post on the UC Breaking News Instagram page for Southwest Florida. The post was about the death of a Lee County police dog.

Police arrested Nimmons yesterday (Tuesday) after linking the account that posted the image to him.

Gulf Coast News reports that Nimmons was apprehended during a traffic stop. Inside his vehicle, there was a firearm and a phone. The phone number reportedly matches the number on the Instagram account that posted the AI image.

30-year-old Nimmons is facing charges of written threats to kill or do bodily injury as a result of the image.

“Threats of violence are something we will ALWAYS take extremely seriously. If you threaten law enforcement, we will find you and hold you accountable. Hiding behind a screen or using AI will not protect you from the consequences of your actions,” Sheriff Marceno tells WINK News.

“Our Intelligence Unit does an amazing job investigating threats of violence and immediately taking action against those responsible. We work every day to protect the residents of Lee County, and I will never be intimidated from doing my job or speaking out against those who threaten the safety of our community.”

As mentioned at the top, Ye Lin in Singapore was arrested for posting an AI-generated image of a saltwater crocodile swimming in a public water area.

Singapore’s national water agency suspended work at the reservoir for two days to investigate the possible sighting. An exhaustive search ultimately found nothing, and authorities determined the image was fake. Singaporean rowing and canoeing groups had to suspend their scheduled activities during this time.

Meanwhile, in Santa Ana, California, detectives this week investigated an AI image of a highly venomous Gaboon viper that was sent to police by someone who also claimed he saw the snake.

“Today, detectives followed up with the reporting party, who initially said he saw the snake and provided the original photo,” Santa Ana Police told KTLA. “During the follow-up investigation, he admitted the photo was AI-generated and that the report was false.”

It’s not clear whether the man who created the image and reported it will face charges.