JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NJ – A Jackson township councilman in New Jersey who has gained a large following on Instagram and TikTok over his viral videos criticizing township officials and local government continues to hide his past from the public after a 2020 accusation against him came to light earlier this year during his campaign.
The Real Life Superhero (RLSH) community was shaken in 2020 when serious accusations emerged against well-known vigilante figure “Dark Guardian,” identified as Jackson Township Councilman Chris Pollak, over claims he had created a fake social media account posing as a 13-year-old girl to target another community member.
Those same allegations have resurfaced as Pollak took his seat last month.
In that article, a former superhero friend of the politician accused him of pretending to be a young girl online in order to frame a book author who was writing a book about people who believed they were actually superheroes.
Upset over the content of the book, Pollak tried to frame and extort the man, by attempting to lure the man into conversations with the fake child, in order to expose him as a pedophile.
The entire operation went south after the man and Pollak’s fellow superhero collective friends caught on to his devious plot and called him out.
Later, Pollak admitted that he was in fact pretending to be a young girl online, but did not express any remorse for his actions.
The accusations first appeared in an article published June 30, 2020, on the official Real Life Superhero website under its “Opinion” section. Authored by a contributor identified as “Midnight,” the piece alleged Pollak operated the Instagram account “mariaboo2323” to harass and defame another RLSH affiliate tied to the “Superhero University” project.
The account, which displayed photos of a young girl and listed the user as 13 years old, interacted publicly with the “superhero__university” Instagram page, accusing its owner of misconduct and demanding “justice.” Screenshots shared online captured heated exchanges between the two accounts, drawing in other RLSH members and sparking widespread controversy within the community.
Key Points
- A 2020 article accused Chris Pollak, known as “Dark Guardian,” of operating a fake Instagram account posing as a 13-year-old girl.
- The account was allegedly used to make false accusations against another member of the RLSH community.
- Pollak, now running for a council seat in Jackson Township, has not publicly addressed the past allegations.
Instagram feud sparked by impersonation claims
Screenshots from 2020 show “mariaboo2323” accusing “superhero__university” of misconduct, prompting an angry public exchange in the comment sections of Instagram posts. The “superhero__university” account denied the claims, asserting that the accusations were fabricated and linked them directly to members of the RLSH network, including those operating under the “Dark Guardian” alias.
Pollak was later banned from Facebook for his actions, and when he created a new account to run for office this year, that past violation caught up to him and he was removed from the social media network again.
This time, he blamed Orthodox Jewish Councilman Mordy Burnstein, saying Burnstein pulled strings to get him banned for his political opposition.
We reached out to the New York Initiative, which Pollak was not a member of at the time. According to a spokesperson for the group, “Pollak didn’t vibe well,” with the members.
“He had left the Real Life Superhero community in June of 2020 [Then moving to Jackson, NJ due to the incidnet allegedly], in a now-deleted tweet. This was around the time a blog post was made on the site news.rlsh.net about his attempt at framing a book author for pedophilia, which he later apologized to them for,” the New York Initiative said in a statement this month. “We have tried to gather more solid citations on the framing incident, but seeing as how Dark Guardian has been banned multiple times from Facebook, Instagram, and other social media for hate speech and other violations, it’s proven difficult. Facebook deleted the messages discussing the incident with him one-on-one before we could archive them, leaving only the “This message has been removed for not following community standards” message in a yellow box instead. The author may or may not be cooperative in providing evidence, as he publicly stated he was going to move past it and forgive Dark Guardian.”
We tried to reach out to that author, who has not replied. We will provide an update on that if he does respond.
The dispute quickly spread across multiple profiles, with other self-identified RLSH participants like “impact_rlsh,” “holy.avenger,” and “the_ohio_spider” joining in the argument. Several users encouraged “mariaboo2323” to contact authorities if the harassment continued, while others dismissed the account as fraudulent, calling out the account for fabricating the entire claim.
Messenger screenshots reveal internal conflict
Private Facebook Messenger screenshots connected to the controversy show a conversation between a user named “Christopher”, identified as Chris Pollak, and another individual confronting him about online conduct. The exchange referenced “trolling” and harassment within the RLSH network, as well as tensions tied to personal rivalries.
In the conversation, “Christopher” defended his actions and dismissed criticism, while the other participant warned him about setting a poor example for younger followers. The discussion ended with “Christopher” referencing a feud with another RLSH member and making disparaging remarks, suggesting deeper personal hostilities behind the public disputes.
The New York Initiative confirmed this interaction, saying Pollak has a history within the superhero community of being combative with people he doesn’t agree with, or like.
“When pushed, yes he is [mentally unstable] and it always devolves into threats,” the New York Initiative said.
Allegations resurface during council campaign
Pollak, who gained notoriety in New York City for patrolling streets in costume and confronting drug dealers under the “Dark Guardian” persona, is now seeking public office in Jackson Township, New Jersey. As his campaign gains visibility, questions about his past involvement in the RLSH community and the resurfaced allegations have circulated online.
Pollak has not personally addressed the 2020 claims or issued any public statement regarding the accusations published by the RLSH website. Pollak was once again banned by Facebook in 2025 over anti-semitic comments and for once again violating Facebook’s community standards. Facebook confirmed Pollak was banned from the platform and was banned again this year, because banned users are not allowed to return to the platform under new personas.
Pollak has been blaming “local elected officials” for his most recent ban, failing to tell his followers that he was banned multiple times in the past, prior to his campaign for political office, which was a new violation of Meta’s terms of service.
He has used his Facebook ban as a political rallying call against a ‘corrupt’ local government, he says even has the power to ban him from social media. His Instagram account was also banned for his prior actions while impersonating a young girl, which is also against the company’s terms of service.
Community fallout and reputation impact
Fans of Pollak online, seeking a new superhero, have discounted all of the politician’s dark past, even claiming this story is also not true. Pollak needs to come clean with the people of Jackson because these questions will be asked in a public meeting space, should he win in November, as some residents demand full transparency from all candidates, even the one yelling the loudest.