In speaking out against the political prosecution of Jill Stein,
we’re supporting the rights of all to free speech and protest
Stein’s been in the news lately for something that happened over two years ago when she was running as the Green Party presidential candidate against Biden and Trump. On April 27, 2024, Stein was arrested along with around 100 other people, mostly students, during a pro-Palestinian rally at Washington University in St. Louis. She was booked into the St. Louis County Jail in Clayton where she spent close to six hours in custody. She was subsequently charged with misdemeanor counts of first-degree trespassing and fourth-degree assault. The image above is one of many which, along with video footage, debunks the claim that Stein assaulted anyone. Also worth noting is that out of the 100 or so other people arrested, only Stein has been charged with trespassing and assault.
Above: Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein links arms with others at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, MO – Saturday, April 27, 2024. (Photo: Christine Tannous/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Drag queen and astute political commentator Lady Bunny recently shared the following on social media.
Many Biden/Kamala supporters love to snidely ask Green Party voters “What’s Jill Stein doing now?” to suggest that she only pops up once every four years to run for the White House.
Well, right now, Jill’s facing charges for protesting Israel in St. Louis [two years ago]. Past residents of the White House like Trump, Biden/Harris and Obama have all funded Israel’s atrocities. Jill represents a break from that. Dr. Stein is Jewish herself, so she’s living proof that criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic.
In a statement, the Green Party notes: “The Partisan Defense Committee has signed the petition calling to drop charges against Dr. Jill Stein based on her arrest at the pro-Palestine encampment at Washington University in St. Louis. If convicted, Dr. Stein faces up to 18 months in prison for exercising her First Amendment rights.”
Above: Dr. Jill Stein being arrested at Washington University,
St. Louis – April 27, 2024. (Photo: Alan Zhou)
Many consider what’s happening to Dr. Stein a political show trail or, as Carlos Garrido of the Socialist Future New Jersey collective puts it, “a lousy excuse to persecute someone who’s the most consistent fighter against the two-party duopoly.”
Continues Garrido:
Dr. Jill Stein is part of the real anti-war dissident left who understands that there’s no future for the left in the Democratic Party. She’s been standing for Palestine, against war, and for working people in the U.S. for the longest time. Now that millions of Americans are discontented with both parties of the duopoly and turning away from them, the establishment cracks down on her over this altercation that occured at a pro-Palestine protest. And you can hear crickets from the DSA folks who haven’t condemned at all the Epstein class’s attacks on Dr. Stein. And these attacks are not just attacks of her, the Green Party, or dissidents. They represent one point in many of the descent into fascism that the country is experiencing. It’s an attack on the constitutional rights of all Americans. And I don’t care whether you agree or disagree with Dr. Stein’s politics, you should support her. They are lousy charges against an honorable person all because she is a principled critic of the establishment.
Friends, if you support our First Amendment right to free speech, please sign this petition and share it and ask others to do likewise.
Following is the petition statement and additional background information.
Petition Statement
To: Washington University in St. Louis and the prosecutor’s office:
Jill Stein is falsely accused of assaulting police and trespassing, based on her standing with students peacefully protesting the Gaza genocide on April 27, 2024. These charges threaten the right to free speech and protest for us all - and endanger our right to demand a foreign policy that serves we the people, not the war contractors, AI billionaires and the military industrial complex.
We the undersigned respectfully call on Washington University and the prosecutor’s office to stand on the right side of history and to:
1. Drop all charges against Jill Stein
2. Restore students and faculty involved in the protest to good standing
3. Acknowledge that opposing genocide is not antisemitic, but rather an affirmation of Jewish – as well as Muslim, Christian, and all religious and humanitarian – values
4. Divest from and cease collaboration with Boeing and any corporations arming and profiting from genocide
Background
Jill Stein was officially charged in a St. Louis court on September 14, 2026 where she demanded a jury trial. Pre-trial proceedings began on October 29, 2026.
Video and photos widely circulated on social media show Jill being violently assaulted at the protest by police using a bicycle as a battering ram. Peaceful protesters were brutalized by police and 100 people were arrested at the time. Jill is the only person being prosecuted. As the leading opponent of genocide in the 2024 presidential election, she pushed the demand to end genocide to the forefront of presidential debate.
These charges threaten the right to free speech and protest for us all - and smack of political prosecution. The charges also threaten our right to demand a foreign policy that serves we the people, not the war contractors, AI billionaires and the military industrial complex.
As the genocide expands to the West Bank and Lebanon, explodes into the war with Iran, generates regional chaos, global destabilization and staggering costs in energy, food and inflation, these developments affirm the moral imperative of the protestors’ demands.
Related Off-site Links:
Jill Stein Faces 18 Months in Prison – Democrats Want Her Silenced – Caleb Maupin (The Caleb Maupin Podcast, November 10, 2024).
Jill Stein Assaulted and Arrested at Washington University – Rising (May 1, 2024).
Dr. Jill Stein on Israel's Crimes and WashU Protest Arrest – Glenn Greenwald (System Update (May 1, 2024).
An Interview with Jill Stein – CNN Breaking News (April 30 1, 2024).
Jill Stein Accuses Police of Assaulting Her at Protest – Miranda Nazzaro (The Hill, April 29, 2024).
Jill Stein Arrested at Protest, While AOC Just Shows Up for Photos – Kit Cabello (Hard Lens Media, April 29, 2024).
Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein Among Arrests at WashU Protests – FOX 2 St. Louis (April 29, 2024).
See also the related Wild Reed posts:
• Dayvon Love: “You Actually Don’t Care Where Jill Stein Is”
• Jill Stein on What the Green Party Is All About
• The Green Party’s Jill Stein and Butch Ware Give Their First Post-Election Interview
• “We Give Reasons for People to Come Out and Vote”
• Jill Stein on the Importance of the Green Party
• Jill Stein in the Twin Cities – October 2024
• We’re Witnessing a Liberal Meltdown Over Jill Stein
• Anti-Genocide Presidential Candidate Jill Stein Reflects on the First Anniversary of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
• “We Give Reasons for People to Come Out and Vote”
• We’re Witnessing a Liberal Meltdown Over Jill Stein
• When Democrats Undermine Democracy
• “Americans Deserve Choices”: Jill Stein on Breaking Points – 4/30/24
• “The Next Step Is a Green Step”: Cornel West Endorses Jill Stein (2016)
• Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein: Is a “Historic Collaboration” in the Making? (2016)
• Demolishing the False Narrative About Jill Stein and the 2016 Election
• Jill Stein: Quote of the Day – October 31, 2016
• Voting Green: Hope Over Fear
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