Rio Grande City Mayor Gilberto Falcon Denies 2017 Family Violence Allegation, Threatens Lawsuit

Rio Grande City Mayor Gilberto Falcon has issued two public denials in response to a Facebook Reel that referenced a 2017 Starr County district court docket bearing his name, calling the allegation "fraudulent" and "fake."

Falcon was elected mayor of Rio Grande City in 2024, defeating incumbent Joel Villarreal with 52 percent of the vote as part of the Independent Leadership slate. He is a licensed attorney who has practiced law in Rio Grande City for roughly 17 years, with his own firm that has handled criminal defense, family violence, personal injury, and business law cases.

The Reel was posted by a local known as "El Cuate Barber," a Facebook page with 6,200 followers listed under the profile category "Artist." El Cuate Barber, who's real name is Rodolfo Mejia, is known for approaching public officials and community members in person, microphone in hand, to demand on-the-spot interviews.

The Reel walks viewers through a records search tied to Falcon's name that depicts Mayor Gilberto Falcon's likeness and image. On-screen text states: "There is an official Starr County district court docket from February 27, 2017 that lists a defendant named Gilberto Falcon with the offense 'Assault by Strangulation/Family Violence.' The docket reflects that the case was set for court." The Reel follows that statement with a caveat: "However, I could not verify from publicly available records what the final outcome of that case was. A docket entry alone does not establish guilt or a conviction, and I did not find a publicly available disposition showing whether the charge was dismissed, reduced, resulted in a plea, or ended in a conviction."

Falcon responded promptly after the Reel reached his feed. "I'll be filing a lawsuit. I have never been charged, arrested, accused or convicted of family violence".

According to Falcon's account, the Reel originated from an incident at Freedom Fest over the weekend, where a man approached city commissioners seeking interviews and comments. Commissioners declined to speak with him, citing the family event and during an exchange, comments were made referencing "beating women, taking advantage of them, being disrespectful to them." Falcon said the same man later posted content insinuating that Falcon, despite the commissioner's refusal to engage, also carried unresolved family violence allegations. Witnesses have confirmed that Mejia was present at Freedom Fest, a fourth of July event for families in Rio Grande City and Starr County. Mejia was heard yelling and being disruptive during the presentation of the Fourth of July remarks by the Mayor and City Commissioners through the national anthem.

On Monday morning, Falcon broadened his response. In a video posted to his personal Facebook page and captioned "Please Share," Falcon expanded his denial: "I have never been a arrested, charged, indicted, or been a defendant in an Assault case."

In the video, Falcon described the personal toll of the allegation circulating. "I had family members asking me whether or not I had taken advantage of, assaulted, essentially, my wife. My wife asking me if I had assaulted some other lady sometime in 2017 that she was not aware," he said. He added that colleagues had called seeking an explanation, and that he found himself explaining the allegation to in-laws.

Falcon drew a distinction between public criticism of his performance as mayor, which he said he welcomes, and the allegation itself. "They can criticize my work, they can criticize the progress of the city. That's fair game," he said. "But one thing is public opinion, another thing is asserting something as if it is a fact, a fact claiming that I'm this kind of person, the representative of the entire city of Rio Grande City, is an individual that goes on and beats women and strangles them and assaults them and disrespects them, and that is not me. I don't do that. I've never done it. I've never been arrested. I've never been accused. And I don't want for there to be any miscommunication or misunderstanding that that is me. That is not me. That is a fabrication."

Falcon invited the public to verify his claim independently. "I would like to encourage you to go to the courthouse. They have all the public records there of the criminal cases, and you're not gonna find any because I've never been involved in that," he said.

The creator behind El Cuate Barber responded to Falcon's video the same day, posting a response written in Spanish in which he said he plans to release a second video with what he described as evidence, asked Falcon to refute it, and challenged the mayor to a debate.

The docket cited in the Reel names a defendant identified as "Gilberto Falcon" but does not include additional identifying information, such as a middle name, date of birth, or case disposition, that would confirm the docket refers to the mayor specifically rather than another individual sharing the same name in Starr County.

Falcon has said he intends to pursue legal action over false allegations of a crime in the Reel.

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