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A non-binary drag queen who had been working in a high-profile job in President Joe Biden‘s Department of Energy has admitted to stealing a suitcase from a baggage carousel and using the bag for their personal travel over the course of a month.
Sam Brinton, whose full title was as the DOE’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition, says that they ‘accidentally’ took the suitcase with contents worth over $2,300 from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on September 16 around 4:45 pm.
It was later confirmed that the suspect was not traveling with a checked bag when they arrived in Minnesota.
The stolen bag was a Very Bradley 26-inch navy blue hard-sided roller bag.
Brinton has been charged with felony theft and is on leave from their job in the Department of Energy. In charging documents, a police officers said that she gave Brinton specific instructions on how to return the bag, something they have failed to do.
Department of Energy official Sam Brinton traveled to Minnesota without a bag on September 16, but left with someone elses’s on September 18, police said. Nearly a month later, they had taken the same bag on a mysterious trip to Europe
After initially committing the theft, Brinton took the bag to a hotel in St. Paul following the theft, police allege.
Two days later, they boarded a flight to Washington DC, with the suitcase in tow. The bag belonged to an adult female who was traveling with her son from New Orleans.
Some time between September 18 and October 9, Brinton took a trip to Europe, with the stolen suitcase, which has yet to be returned, documents say.
Neither the Hennepin County Attorney’s office or Brinton’s attorney, Fabian Hoffner, have responded to multiple requests for comment surrounding the story.
In a brief statement on the scandal, the Department of Energy said in a statement: ‘Sam Brinton is on leave from DOE, and Dr. Kim Petry is performing the duties of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition.’
The incident has drawn the attention of multiple right-wing figures on Twitter. Recently re-elected congresswoman Rep. Lauren Boebert, 35, posted a pic of Brinton in a dress and tweeted: ‘This man, hired by Joe Biden, is a thief.’
While ex-President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr., 44, a screengrab of the DailyMail.com’s coverage of the story and wrote: ‘Who could have seen this coming from they/them?’
Sam Brinton, pictured here, is accused of taking a woman’s suitcase from the baggage claim at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on September 16
On October 9, Sam Brinton was recorded by surveillance footage bringing the stolen bag through Washington-Dulles International Airport on their return from Europe
Brinton is currently on a leave of absence from their DOE job. If found guilty they could now face five years in jail, a $10,000 fine, or both
Officer Anne Katchmark of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Police Department, pictured here with President Joe Biden, first made contact with Brinton on October 9
On October 9, they was recorded by surveillance footage bringing the bag through Washington-Dulles International Airport on their return from Europe.
That same day, Brinton was contacted by Officer Anne Katchmark of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Police Department.
When asked if they had taken a bag that did not belong to him, Brinton responded by saying: ‘Not that I know of.’
An hour later, Brinton responded to Katchmark and apologized for not being ‘completely honest.’ They admitted to accidentally taking the bag, blaming tiredness for the confusion.
However, it has emerged that Brinton didn’t bring a suitcase on their initial trip to Minneapolis.
Brinton said that they panicked when they realized that the bag was not theirs and said that they left the clothing from the bag in their St. Paul hotel room.
When asked why they took the bag and left the clothing, the complaint reads that they ‘did not want to leave the bag in the hotel room, reasoning it was “weirder” to leave a bag than the clothes.’
The investigating officer said that she instructed Brinton as to how they could return to the bag to the victim, something which they has failed to do. No clothing was retrieved from the hotel room.
Brinton is currently on a leave of absence from their DOE job.
If found guilty they could now face five years in jail, a $10,000 fine, or both.
Sam Brinton’s suitcase adventure
Brinton, who has a Master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) writes in their LinkedIn bio that they are working towards ‘Solving the World’s #NuclearWaste Challenges and Protecting LGBTQ Youth from #ConversionTherapy’
September 16: Sam Brinton arrives at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport without any checked luggage.
He took a suitcase with contents valued over $2,300 from the baggage carousel and took it to a hotel room in St. Paul.
September 18: Brinton returns to the scene of the crime at the airport and boards a flight to Washington DC.
October 9: Brinton returns from a trip to Europe at Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport with the stolen suitcase.
Later on October 9: Brinton is contacted by an officer with the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport police in which they initially denies.
Later, they contacts the same police officer to say that they was not ‘completely honest’ and that they accidentally took the bag, citing tiredness as the issue.
Brinton was instructed by the officer on how to return the bag, something that they has so far failed to do.
Brinton made headlines earlier this year after proudly announcing on LinkedIn that they had become Deputy Assistant Secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Department of Energy.
The 34-year-old scientist, who was the first non-binary person to accept a position in federal government leadership, has not been at work for at least a month with Kim Petry, the acting deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel, standing in.
Petry told coworkers she had been asked to stay on as head of the spent fuel office ‘for the foreseeable future’ by Kathryn Huff, assistant secretary for nuclear energy.
‘I should have another update for all of you in a month or so,’ Petry wrote in the email as seen by Exchange Monitor. It will no doubt depend on what occurs at Brinton’s next court hearing on December 19.
In a complaint from October 27, it is alleged Brinton was seen caught on airport surveillance cameras removing ‘a navy blue hard-sided roller bag’ from a baggage claim carousel.
On the same day, the bag was reported missing by a woman earlier in the day.
After reviewing several surveillance videos she identified the bag as hers adding that the total value of items in the allegedly stolen bag was roughly $2,325.
Video that has not been released to the public sees Brinton ‘removing the blue bag’s tag and putting the bag tag in the handbag they were carrying,’ and ‘leaving the area at a quick pace,’ the complaint details.
Brinton was in the airport having arrived on a flight from Washington D.C. where they live, but had not checked a bag for their journey.
Law enforcement quickly tracked them down with Brinton initially denying taking anything.
‘If I had taken the wrong bag, I am happy to return it, but I don’t have clothes for another individual,’ Brinton told police, according to the complaint. ‘That was my clothes when I opened the bag.’
But then they suddenly had a change of heart and called the airport police to come clear noting that they had not been ‘completely honest’ and ‘admitted to taking the blue bag.’
The non-binary drag queen who had been working in a nuclear waste job in President Biden’s administration is pictured outside of their home in Maryland in February
Brinton was seen heading to the airport with a suitcase earlier in the year. On the trip they allegedly took another woman’s case, they did not have any bags with them
Brinton was caught on surveillance cameras at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport taking a blue bag off the baggage claim after flying in from Washington
Brinton, pictured in drag outside the Capitol
Brinton revised their statement excusing the behavior as a result of being ‘tired and taking the suitcase thinking it was theirs.’
It was only after opening the bag Brinton claims they realized it wasn’t theirs adding that they were ‘nervous people would think they stole the bag and did not know what to do.’
They then went on to claim that the clothes contained in the suitcase had been placed in a drawer at the InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront hotel, where they were staying.
Brinton, an MIT graduate who specializes in nuclear power and energy, is also an LGBTQ activist who has been open about their advocacy work and unconventional sexual proclivities such as animal role play on social media.
Photos shared online to show them wearing American flag heels and a sparkly dress while standing over three people role-playing as dogs.
They are also known to perform as ‘Sister Ray Dee O’Active’ while participating in a group called the Order of Perpetual Indulgence – a non-profit group of drag queens who dress up as nuns to raise awareness of sexual intolerance and transphobia.
Brinton has held various roles in the energy field prior to their latest position, and also served as a nuclear waste adviser in the Trump administration.
Brinton’s past is a colorful one. Born in 1987, their parents Peggy Jo and Stephen Brinton are Southern Baptists who belong now to the First Baptist Church of Perry, Iowa. The couple have three children – Sam, Rachel and Daniel.
In addition to being a science nerd, Brinton is also an avid LGBTQ activist and goes by Sister Ray Dee O’Active – a member of the Order of Perpetual Indulgence – a non-profit group of drag queens who dress up as nuns to raise awareness of sexual intolerance and transphobia
If found guilty of felony theft they could now face five years in jail, a $10,000 fine, or both
Non-binary Brinton, who goes by they/them pronouns, previously revealed their troubled relationship with their parents, both 57 – describing how they were forced to take part in conversion therapy as a teen.
Brinton also recounted how they were told to leave the family home in Perry, Iowa, after coming out to their parents as bisexual for a second time while at college – forcing them to move in with an uncle in New York.
Brinton, who is the first gender-fluid person to serve in the deputy assistant secretary role, grew up in Sanford, Florida, and Perry, Iowa.
In a 2018 op-ed, Brinton told how they first came out as a middle school student and then was forced to spend two years having conversion therapy – a discredited form of counseling that aims to convert gay people to straight. They described it as ‘torture.’
Samuel Brinton was tapped as deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy by the Biden Administration in January
As a result, they went on to keep their sexuality hidden through homeschooling and then again while attending Perry High School after the family moved to Iowa in 2002.
Brinton’s parents still work at the First Baptist Church in Perry – a small city of just over 8,000 people 30 miles northwest of Des Moines – and continue to live in the modest $166,000 four-bedroom home where Brinton was raised.
There, the stiletto-loving 34-year-old lived a radically different existence from their high-powered lifestyle in Washington, D.C. today.
Yearbook photos obtained by DailyMail.com show how young Brinton excelled in technology – winning the award for outstanding automotive tech student in their senior year.
A yearbook photo of Brinton at Perry High School in Iowa
Brinton also spent four years on the school wrestling team and was a cross- country runner, as well as an enthusiastic member of the school choir.
They also appeared in several school plays – including The Stuck Pot, which tells the story of how a group of schoolboys established a consolation prize for the boy ‘stuck with an awful lemon’ for a date at the school prom.
Brinton also appeared in a high school production of Grease and in Quiet Summer – a comedy play about a man who decides to spend their summer trying to become president of the local country club.
They took part in multiple academic decathlons, was a member of the public speaking team and joined the Iowa All-State chorus in their final two years at school.
They also proved popular – photos show Brinton with friends at their school prom in 2006 and taking part in a quiz in a team named Sam’s Super Sweets.
This image gained attention, and anti-LGBTQ criticism
In a moving 2018 op-ed in the New York Times, Brinton described how they were put through ‘torture’ during conversion therapy, writing: ‘My parents were Southern Baptist missionaries who believed that the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy could ‘cure’ my sexuality’
But according to Brinton, the conversion therapy they endured as a middle schooler left scars and it wasn’t until college – Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas – that they felt able to come out for the second and final time.
In a moving 2018 op-ed in the New York Times, Brinton described how they were put through ‘torture’ during conversion therapy, writing: ‘My parents were Southern Baptist missionaries who believed that the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy could ‘cure’ my sexuality.
‘For over two years, I sat on a couch and endured emotionally painful sessions with a counselor. I was told that my faith community rejected my sexuality; that I was the abomination we had heard about in Sunday school; that I was the only gay person in the world; that it was inevitable I would get H.I.V. and AIDS.’
Brinton with Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness in New York City in 2019
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