You have to admit one thing about antifascist, artist, and independent journalist Alex Stokes – he’s got some guts. His fearlessness led him into the midst of the chaos around the protests against Donald Trump’s inauguration, where he was falsely arrested (and had his charges later dropped). It led him to the 2017 protests in Charlottesville, where he was injured in an attack by fascists. In 2020, he was on the streets, documenting the uprising around the police murder of George Floyd.
So it came as no surprise that when armed Proud Boys who didn’t join their pals in trying to overthrow the US government in the January 6th insurrection decided to show up at the NY state capitol to test democracy there, Alex was there among counter-protestors. And when the Piss Boys attacked the counter-protestors with weapons, Alex jumped up and defended those being attacked. This very detailed video describes step-by-step how Alex’s actions were clearly done in the defense of himself and others that day.
It’s incredible that, on the same day that Piss Boys engaged in the most serious assault against the US government from within in memory, police looked at this melée and decided that the person to be arrested should be Alex and not the well-armed Piss Boys who initiated the violence. It’s equally shocking that, given that everything was captured in great detail on video, the courts did not see what Alex did as clear self-defense and instead, convicted him on assault charges and sentenced him to twenty years in prison!
This is an obvious miscarriage of justice and the stakes of Alex’s appeal of his sentence could not be higher. The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund is in direct contact with Alex’s lawyer and has already provided substantial support to bankroll his appeal, but more is needed, so we’ve also set up a dedicated crowdfunder to make sure Alex and his legal team have all the resources at their disposal required to overturn his sentence and get him free!
The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund 
You must be logged in to post a comment.