Adora and Taylor, two valiant Black women in Calgary, stand accused in a glaring display of what appears to be legal intimidation. Their crime? Daring to organize against anti-Black racism. The Calgary Police Service (CPS) seems to have decided that their activism is a threat, slapping them with an avalanche of charges, each more bewildering than the last.

The narrative is as old as it is tired: stack charges high, aiming to silence and intimidate. Adora, president of Black Lives Matter YYC, and Taylor, co-creator of Inclusive Canada, find themselves in the crosshairs of a system that appears more interested in protecting its image than its people. The Stop the Stack YYC campaign is raising a clarion call against this practice, which not only burdens these women with legal fees but also inflicts a relentless psychological toll.

Adora’s ordeal reads like a Kafkaesque nightmare. Charged with a hate crime for merely trying to reenter a building—a charge so ludicrous it was later dropped due to a “clerical error” – the media ran with teh story, painting her as a criminal, wreaking havoc on her reputation and wellbeing. Her subsequent charges for standing against hate speak volumes of the CPS’s apparent priorities.

Taylor’s journey is a harrowing testament to the cost of speaking out. Facing 17 charges since 2020, her activism against police violence and bigotry has been met with a ruthless response. Even as she stands for others, Taylor finds herself repeatedly pushed to defend her own dignity and freedom, battling charges that range from the bizarre to the outright offensive.

The stories of Adora and Taylor aren’t just individual injustices; they’re chapters in a larger narrative of resistance against a system seemingly desperate to maintain the status quo. Their legal battles are microcosms of the broader struggle for racial justice and equality, reflecting the high stakes of standing up in a world that often demands conformity.

This is where we draw the line. The Defence Fund is more than a financial resource; it’s a commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with those on the frontlines. Adora and Taylor’s fight is our fight, and we’re here to ensure they don’t stand alone.

Now’s the time for action. If you’ve ever believed in fighting against the tide of racism and for the right of every individual to stand tall without fear of retribution, here’s your chance. Contribute to their legal funds, spread the word, and stand firm in the face of adversity. In solidarity with Adora and Taylor, we continue the fight.

It’s no secret that Ukraine had a troubled history during World War Two and many of the people from that time that many Ukrainians consider national heroes were also full-on Nazis and members of SS kill units. Take, for example, Roman Shukhevych. Shukhevych was a Ukrainian ultra-nationalist that fought against the Soviet oppression of his people, leading a military unit that fought for Ukrainian liberation from the Soviets and, to a lesser extent, Nazi Germany after its invasion of Ukraine. That latter resistance proved to be short-lived and soon Shukhevych and his brothers in arms became Nazi collaborators, followed by full-fledged SS officers who carried out slaughters of Ukrainian Jews.

What does this history lesson have to do with the Defence Fund? Well, it turns out that someone took exception to an organization of Ukrainian expats erected a statue in tribute to Shukhevych and made some historically-accurate revisions to it. Twice. The vandalism was reported in local media outlets and the police carefully concluded that one of the journalists who wrote about it must actually also be the culprit, since he reported on it!

Before the police take this Pythonesque reductio ad absurdum logic further (“this journalist reported on a murder, so they must be the murderer!”), the Defence Fund stepped in to make sure the journalist in question has a competent lawyer with him in court to explain to the police how journalism works.

Leif is a trans man who this spring faced off against gun-toting, full-on neo-nazis and other assorted armed transphobes trying to assault the audience at a Drag Queen Story Time in Wadsworth, Ohio.  Of course the police were there – to protect the nazis! When the transphobes tried to physically assault a group of children leaving the event, Leif (who was escorting the children) was bludgeoned in the attack and responded in self-defense, successfully repelling the attackers and protecting the children from physical harm. But of course, the cops decided to slap Leif and only Leif with multiple assault charges!

The evidence, including multiple videos taken of the attack, was obviously in Leif’s favor. He clearly acted in self-defense. Yet the police and prosecutors forced him to hire a lawyer and fight the charges in court. Leif had to set up a crowdfunder to help pay for his legal defense and after reaching out to us, The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund stepped in to make a contribution.

Last week, we got the good news that this was money well spent! Leif beat the assault charges in court earlier this week and happily accepted a plea deal and took a misdemeanor with zero jail time for reasons he explains here. We’re as happy as the fascists are mad that the assault charges got tossed and Leif gets to continue to live his best life, IN NO SMALL PART THANKS TO US!!!

BTW, Leif still has outstanding legal expenses to pay off, so if you feel like kicking in a bit to help him with that, you can do that right here. 

Just three days after the 2021 attempted insurrection on Capitol Hill, a mob of MAGA extremists, full-on neo-nazis, and assorted white supremacists ran wild in San Diego, beating a veteran wearing a George Floyd t-shirt, pulling knives on people, and attacking anyone showing any sort of resistance to their message of hate. That included a group of anti-fascists counter-protestors that did more to keep people in the community safe from violence than the police there that day.

In fact, the SDPD seemed there to enable the far-right goons to do as they pleased and only intervened when they could arrest someone unwilling to be victimized by the bigots. To-date, the only people charged for anything that day were anti-fascist counter-protestors.

This seems to be the doing of Summer Stephan, San Diego’s far-right District Attorney. Stephan has launched a witch hunt against “antifa” – charging 11 alleged anti-fascists with a litany of felonies while ignoring the overwhelming evidence of far worse violence being committed by the other side (who she no doubt counts as votes for her next term). Many of the defendants, facing bizarre conspiracy charges one would normally see in mafia trials, took plea deals. Some are currently serving prison sentences.

But not JW.

JW refused to bow down in fear to the overwhelming force of the state and their attempt to criminalize the self-defense of a community from hardcore bigots and extremists. He’s going to trial and he’s ready to fight and beat the charges. But his lawyer needed some help with some of the expenses involved in fighting the case. The Defence Fund was honor-bound to help out in any way we could and we look forward to JW’s press conference on the courthouse steps, after he beats the case.

Another week, another person out there defending the right of trans people to simply exist has to confront a mob of transphobic shitlords and winds up with charges from the transphobic shitlord-protecting police. This time in Sacramento, which some of you will recall was the place where police let nazis stab seven people and drop guns as they ran away, didn’t manage to charge a single nazi, but worked overtime to try to frame the antifascists targeted by the nazis, in collusion with the nazis themselves. So, no big surprise that this was the outcome of the policing efforts this time.

Still, that left our friend facing serious prison time. Given that he his the sole source of support for his disabled mom, he took a plea deal instead and will be doing about six months in prison. He reached out to ask for help paying off his court fees and providing for his mom while he’s locked up and, of course, we said “absolutely!”

Trans people shouldn’t face public hate rallies calling for their elimination.
People defending the rights of trans people to exist should wind up harmed or arrested for doing so.
We all need to stand with the people putting themselves in harm’s way to defend trans rights and answer their call when they need help.

Unless you’ve been in a coma for the last two years, you may have noticed that far right extremists have shifted their apoplectic rage towards drag queens and trans people as of late. There have been hundreds of violent attacks on events featuring drag queens and events supporting trans people’s right to simply exist.

Case in point: a drag queen story time event in Wadsworth, Ohio this past spring. That event attracted heavily-armed bigots who happily implied to the media that their end goal was the lynching the “degenerates,” along with swastika-flag waving, gun toting, seig heiling nazis (pro tip to transphobes: when nazis are on your side, you’re definitely on the wrong side of history).

Most of us would stay home and let the event organizers, performers, and attendees fend for themselves. But not Leif. Leif put his body on the line defending people from the bigots’ physical violence, crucially intervening when the armed goons attacked people as they left the event.

Of course, the dozens of police on the scene doing nothing to protect people eventually stepped in to the altercation to make an arrest OF LEIF! Incredibly, despite the overwhelming evidence showing Leif acting in self-defense and in the defense of others, he’s the one now going on trial this month.

Defending people against murderous, bigoted thugs shouldn’t mean you end up facing prison time and thousands of dollars in legal fees. We’ve stepped in to help Leif defray those costs. You can too by contributing to Leif’s crowdfunder. You’re also always welcome to help us get emergency support to the people defending drag shows and countering transphobic hate by making a contribution to the Defence Fund.

Imagine going out for a drink with your mates and by chance picking a bar where high-ranking members of one of the most racist organizations in the country are socializing. If you’re like some of the friends of Offensive Antifasciste Bordeaux, you’d take that as the perfect opportunity to have a frank and honest exchange of views with the bigots of Rassemlement national (RN).

Unfortunately and before our five friends could really, really drive their points home, Bordeaux police intervened and as a result, charged and convicted them with various offences. Now, in addition to prison time, our friends face court fees, lawyer bills, and damages. The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund has intervened to help defray some of these costs and we stand with the heroes of Bordeaux for defending their preferred drinking spot from a fascist invasion. Never let them have the bar!

Andy Ngo is a one-trick pony. The guy just can’t stop trying to repeat his past success of making himself a victim to grift for $$$. More recently than the infamous milkshaking of this clown and liar, he once again tried to provoke a left-wing demonstration and wound up running back to his fancy hotel to hide, which of course he then used as the pretext to sue anyone he thought may have been at the protest he went to antagonize. In the hopes of suing them later. True, is probably preferable to when he was compiling hit lists for a neo-nazi terrorist organization, but still not cool.

Of course, on the other side of things, this meant that some of the leftists & anti-fascists Ngo was trying to sue in court for opposing him had to hire lawyers to defend themselves against this lawsuit. One of those people included a single mom who had to put up a crowdfunder to pay her lawyer. She reached out to the International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund for support and how could we say no to contributing to a 0 in court for Andy’s score card?

And, at the end of the court proceedings, the board indeed read ANTIFA 1, ANDY 0. If our friend wasn’t able to hire competent legal representation, it could have gone the other way and she could have found herself having to pay this fucking Ngo troll $300,000USD.

The Defence Fund has proven this time and time again – when anti-fascists can afford good lawyers, they beat the cases against them in court. We’re help to help make sure every anti-fascist facing a trial has solid legal representation standing there with them. Please help us continue to do that.

It’s easy and fun to dunk on Ben Shapiro. Whether he’s suggesting homeowners in neighbourhoods going underwater thanks to climate change can just sell their houses or questioning whether women can get sexually aroused, Ben’s the king of self-owns.

But sometime he’s not just an amusing buffoon. Sometimes he and his pals from his far-right extremist current affairs site (no, not the far-right extremist current affairs site he used to be the editor of, the other one he started on his own) put on stunt events. Like earlier this year, when they hosted a “debate” in Pittsburgh about whether trans people have a right to exist.

As you can imagine, the good people of Pittsburgh (were NOT having it and hundreds of them showed up to try to shut it down. As you probably would have guessed, the police were out in full force to protect the transphobic stochastic terrorists from the people who did not want them to dehumanize trans people. Arrests were made, two of which reached out to us for some help with their legal defense which we were happy to provide. We hope their lawyers make a mockery of the prosecution’s case as easily as it is to make a mockery of anything Ben Shapiro believes.