An activist, previously charged with stalking and threatening a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy over an Instagram video of a 16-year-old girl being violently arrested at Victor Valley High School, has pleaded guilty amid trial to a single felony count of publishing the deputy’s home address, records show.
Wayne Martin Freeman, 37, of Moreno Valley, initially faced felony charges of stalking a public official and threatening a public official, as well as a misdemeanor charge of electronic harassment, according to San Bernardino County Superior Court records.
Freeman’s trial was scheduled to begin Monday, March 24, in the Victorville branch of San Bernardino County Superior Court, but was postponed by a day and transferred to the court’s Joshua Tree branch on the morning it was set to begin.
Demonstrators protest against criminal charges against community activist Wayne Martin Freeman outside the Victorville branch of San Bernardino County Superior Court on Monday, March 24, 2025.
The trial of Freeman, a community college ethnic studies instructor, PhD candidate, youth basketball coach and community activist, came to an abrupt end on Tuesday, April 1, when Freeman entered a guilty plea to a newly proposed felony criminal charge of publishing a sheriff’s deputy’s arrest resulting in bodily injury, records show. The originally charged offenses were dismissed.
While authorities previously alleged the deputy and his family were in fear because of Freeman’s actions, they have not previously described allegations of bodily injury resulting from it.
Freeman was immediately sentenced to 192 days in jail, which with included credits, exactly mirrored the amount of time he has spent in custody since his arrest on Dec. 27, 2024. He was released from custody the same day, according to San Bernardino County booking records.
Freeman, who was taken into custody a day after visiting the home of a deputy, posted video of the visit online via Instagram. The home had previously been the site of protests.
In the weeks that followed, Judge John Wilkerson ordered Freeman held without bail in January, finding him to be an unusually high threat to public safety. Previously, bail had been set at $150,000, then raised to $180,000.
The judge cited “a series of communications on social media directed at law enforcement, including his disdain for law enforcement officers,” in court documents as evidence for the need to hold him without bail pending trial.
The Instagram video
The case centered around an Instagram video posted by Freeman that depicted a visit to the deputy’s home on Dec. 26, 2024.
Freeman stated that he wanted to confront the deputy over an incident that took place in September 2023, in which a deputy was seen on video body-slamming a 16-year-old girl amid a fight among students at a football game at Victor Valley High School. The encounter resulted in widespread community protests and allegations of excessive force.
More: Supporters rally as trial begins for activist accused of stalking, threatening High Desert deputy
Freeman can be seen knocking on the front door and demanding to speak with the deputy, as well as swearing at him and calling him “scared” for failing to respond.
Authorities alleged that the deputy was not at home at the time, but rather, “John Doe’s wife and three children were inside opening Christmas presents, causing them to be terrified of Mr. Freeman. Mr. Freeman had no lawful business being there.”
The complaining deputy was permitted proceed with prosecution anonymously and was referred to as “John Doe” in court filings.
The sheriff’s department has not identified the deputies involved in the 2023 incident at Victor Valley High School.
Supporters allege malicious prosecution
The day the trial was set to begin in Victorville, a small group of demonstrators gathered in front of the courthouse to decry the charges against Freeman as unfair and improper.
The charges were retaliation for Freeman’s political activism, argued fellow activists and the mother of Freeman’s three children, Valeria Carlos.
“Activism is not a crime,” she said at the time. “He asked for accountability. That’s all he did.”
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Activist accused of stalking High Desert deputy takes plea deal