A Trump-bashing, Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist — whose illustrations have been published by the Washington Post, New Yorker and Los Angeles Times — was arrested for possession of child pornography.
Darrin Bell, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartoons, was busted Wednesday and booked in California’s Sacramento County after detectives from the Internet Crimes Against Children unit were tipped off by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, law enforcement officials said.
In a search of Bell’s home, detectives found 134 videos of child pornography linked to an account owned and controlled by the 49-year-old married father of four as well as computer-generated artificial intelligence child pornography, authorities said Thursday.
One troubling cartoon that Bell created was posted to his X account in 2022 and resurfaced on the social media platform after his arrest. Titled “The Groomer,” it shows an elephant-like person flashing a group of children in front of a mirrored storefront, which reflect the word “BIGOTRY” tattooed on the subject’s chest.
Bell’s more well-known illustrations have touched on politics, culture and race, and have been syndicated to major outlets around the country.
The Pulitzer Prize committee hailed Bell for “beautiful and daring editorial cartoons that took on issues affecting disenfranchised communities, calling out lies, hypocrisy and fraud in the political turmoil surrounding the Trump administration” in honoring him with the venerable award in 2019.
His work has been distributed via King Features Syndicate, which handles famous cartoon strips such as “Popeye,” “Dennis the Menace” and “Beetle Bailey.”
Bell is also the creator of a strip called “Candorville,” which launched in 2003, and is syndicated through the Washington Post Writers Group, allowing his work to appear in newspapers across the country.
The Washington Post declined to comment on Bell’s arrest. The Post reached out to King Features for comment.
The Northern California resident is in custody and being held on $1 million bail, according to the Sacramento Valley sheriff.
He is due to appear in court at 3 p.m. local time Friday.
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