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Santee councilman speaks out after false accusations that he was at D.C. protest

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SANTEE, Calif. (KGTV) – Santee City Council Member Dustin Trotter is defending his reputation after social media posts falsely accused him of being at the U.S. Capitol for the protests.

“[It was] all just misinformation,” Trotter told ABC10 News on Thursday.

On Facebook, users misidentified him in a video, but he told ABC10 News that he was Santee, not D.C.

“For example, I had a meeting with the city manager at 10:30 a.m. in the City of Santee. I actually had lunch with the mayor at 11:30 a.m. yesterday,” he stated.

“I know that he wasn't involved in it because he and I were having lunch yesterday while that was going on,” Santee Mayor John Minto told ABC10 News on Thursday.

Mayor Minto said that he and Trotter are both conservatives. “[However], we agree the election is over. Let's get on with our business and I can tell you I’ve never seen anything from him about violence or acting against our government,” Minto added.

Trotter told ABC10 News, “We actually got some emails at City Hall [on Thursday] that I should resign or step down from my council position.”

Trotter said that he firmly denounces the actions at the Capitol. “Law and order needs to stand in this country at all times,” he added.

One Facebook user who was involved wrote to ABC10 News that as soon as they figured out that the information was wrong, they deleted comments and posted a retraction.