Texas requests steep penalties against Malcolm Tanner

MENTONE, Texas (CN) – Texas attorneys squared off Monday with an Indiana-based social media influencer in a Loving County courthouse, seeking a permanent injunction and stiff penalties over his plans to settle in the county.Arriving at the courthouse Monday afternoon, Malcolm Tanner, an entrepreneur and presidential candidate known on social media as Dr. Malcolm Tanner, offered only a brief comment to Courthouse News: “Come see the show.”The show has been nearly a year in the making.Starting in 2025, Tanner offered free homes and a $5,000 monthly stipend to anyone who moved onto undeveloped land he purchased in Loving County, with the stated goal of uplifting Black Americans. He hoped to register enough followers to outnumber the county’s roughly 60 residents, elect members of his group and gain control of its $60 million budget.The state sued Tanner in October 2025, claiming he violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by falsely advertising nonexistent homes and misrepresenting the property’s condition. The state also claimed he created a public health nuisance by dumping human waste on the property because it lacked sewage, violating the state Health and Safety Code.The court ordered Tanner to stop advertising the land or hosting people there without proper sewage. He was also ordered to pay $220,000 in civil penalties.Before the first case was resolved, however, Tanner moved his followers onto a new parcel uncovered during the lawsuit, prompting the state to file a second case, the subject of Monday’s hearing.Assistant Attorney General Andrew Brown opened the hearing by recalling his words from an earlier proceeding.“A year ago, I stood before you and said Tanner promised homes and provided homelessness,” Brown said. “Today, we are here to determine what to do about that.”In September, Loving County District Court Judge Alan Nicholas granted the state’s motion for summary judgment, finding Tanner, who is representing himself, liable for violating state law. Monday’s hearing considered the state’s request for a permanent injunction and possible civil penalties.At its peak, about 30 people lived on the property in RVs and tents. Since the state sued, that number has fallen to fewer than six.Brown said Tanner made 100 deceptive online posts seen by his 200,000 followers. At $10,000 per violation, he estimated the state could seek $2 billion in civil penalties. Instead, the state focused on two Facebook posts that received a combined 854 likes, reducing its request to $8.5 million.Assistant Attorney General Lauren McGee also asked the court to award the state $12,350 for Tanner’s Health and Safety Code violations, $2,400.75 for a March 2 deposition he failed to attend and $417,860.50 in attorney fees.The state also asked Nicholas to permanently block Tanner from making false or misleading statements about his property, its dwellings and their quality.Tanner, representing himself, objected to several of the requested awards. When given the opportunity to present evidence and call witnesses, he tried to call followers in the courtroom. McGee objected, saying the state had not been notified that he intended to call witnesses.Nicholas said unless Tanner was able to produce a witness who could speak to the condition of sewage on his property, he would not be permitted to call his witnesses.In her closing statement, McGee told the court that Tanner should be allowed to advertise his land as long was he is honest.“He can buy land in Loving County as long as he follows the law,” McGee said. “But people came from far out of state, giving up their lives for his promises.”In closing, Tanner blamed the state for making people homeless by blocking him from moving them onto his land. He also invoked the American dream and the freedom to move throughout the country in defending his plan to settle Loving County.“If this is the way Americans are met by moving around the state or the country, then this would put them in fear of having their freedoms stripped away from the state,” Tanner said.Nicholas sympathized with Tanner’s ideals, calling them “as American as it gets.” But he said the issue was not people moving to the county; it was the advertising that brought them there.“We are all taught in school that the idea of manifest destiny pushed people westward until they encompassed the continent,” Nicholas explained. “They came on horseback and in wagons and endured hardships that we could not imagine. They were promised raw land. Not established land.”The state’s attorneys declined to comment on the case. Tanner likewise did not take questions.Nicholas gave Tanner 10 days to file a written objection to the state’s request for attorney fees, meaning a final order will not be entered until next week.While the second lawsuit nears resolution, Tanner’s legal issues in Loving County are far from over. In September, authorities in Crawfordsville, Indiana, arrested him on a Texas warrant.According to the warrant and a probable cause affidavit obtained by Courthouse News Service, Tanner confronted and threatened an oilfield worker who told members of his group not to sell water on property they did not own. He has been charged with terroristic threat, deadly conduct, criminal trespass, unlawful restraint and engaging in organized criminal activity. If convicted, he faces more than 20 years in prison.A formal hearing in the criminal case has yet to be set.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads