Police drive a bicycle into Jill Stein, then drag her away
The widely shared video of the moment officers charged the line of demonstrators at Washington University.
Opposing genocide is not a crime
Drop the charges on Jill Stein.
Police rammed a bicycle into Jill Stein at a peaceful student protest against the war on Gaza, then charged her with assault. She now faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison if convicted.
What happened
A peaceful protest. Violent mass arrests. One prosecution.
On April 27, 2024, students at Washington University in St. Louis asked Jill Stein, then the Green Party’s candidate for president, to stand with them as they protested the university’s ties to Boeing, a major supplier of the weapons used in Israel’s assault on Gaza.
The protest was peaceful until the university ordered mass arrests. Police charged the crowd, and an officer rammed a bicycle into Stein and the demonstrators beside her. Roughly 100 people were arrested.
Two and a half years later, the charges against the others have been dropped. Jill Stein alone is being prosecuted, accused of assaulting a police officer and trespassing.
- ~100people arrested at Washington University on April 27, 2024
- 1person still being prosecuted: Jill Stein
- 2½years that this case has hung over a peaceful protest
- $55,000initial goal to fund her legal defense
See for yourself
Who assaulted whom?
Jill Stein is accused of assaulting a police officer. The photographs and video from that evening show what actually happened.
A St. Louis County police officer “rams a bicycle into presidential candidate Jill Stein” and other demonstrators. How St. Louis Public Radio captioned this photograph, April 28, 2024
Stein was 73. She was dragged out of the encampment and arrested, and then she was the one charged with assaulting an officer.
A second police attack that evening, also caught on video, reportedly left Southern Illinois University Edwardsville history professor Steve Tamari hospitalized with broken ribs and a broken hand.
Charged with assault, after being assaulted
Stein is charged with assaulting a police officer. The footage shows her being shoved with a bicycle and dragged out.
Officers beat and drag a professor at the same protest
Journalist Prem Thakker posts footage of officers slamming SIUE history professor Steve Tamari to the ground. Tamari was reportedly hospitalized with broken ribs and a broken hand.
The petition
Four demands
We call on Washington University and the St. Louis prosecutor’s office to join the protesters in standing on the right side of history, and to:
Drop all charges against Jill Stein.
Restore students and faculty involved in the protest to good standing.
Acknowledge that opposing genocide is not antisemitic, but rather an affirmation of Jewish – as well as Muslim, Christian, and all religious and humanitarian – values.
Divest from and cease cooperation with Boeing and any corporations arming and profiting from genocide.
Why it matters
This case is an assault on our most basic freedoms.
The right to protest
These charges threaten the right to free speech and protest for all of us, on campuses and far beyond them.
Political prosecution
Charges were dropped for everyone else. The one person still facing trial is the candidate who forced the demand to end the genocide to the forefront of the presidential debate.
Policy for the people
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.
Standing with Jill
They’re calling for the charges to be dropped
Public figures
Ali Abunimah
Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada; author
Chris Hedges
Journalist and author
Medea Benjamin
CODEPINK co-founder; peace activist and author
Journalist and author
Journalist and New York Times bestselling author; editor of The Grayzone
Craig Mokhiber
Human rights lawyer; former senior United Nations official
Miko Peled
Author and human rights activist
Butch Ware
Professor of history, UC Santa Barbara
Independent journalist and documentary filmmaker
Sumud Podcast Host
Environmental justice organizer
Co-founder of Food Not Bombs; artist and author
Faisal Saleh
Entrepreneur and founder of Palestine Museum US
Congressional candidate and aviation safety advocate
U.S. constitutional law expert and policy director at Defending Rights & Dissent
Prof. Jeffery Sachs
University Professor at Columbia University
Dr. Nidal Jboor
Physician; co-founder of Doctors Against Genocide
Dr. Karameh Kuemmerle
Pediatric neurologist; co-founder of Doctors Against Genocide
Maria Kari
Human rights lawyer; executive director of Project TAHA
Guitarist, singer-songwriter and composer
Community organizer; former Worcester city councilor
Are you a public figure who wants to add your name?
Endorse the callOrganizations
Doctors Against Genocide
Green Party USA- The Electronic Intifada
Green-Rainbow Party
Partisan Defense Committee
National Political Prisoner Coalition
Community Alliance for Peace and Justice
Worcester Multifaith for Palestine
Center for Nonviolent Solutions
Does your organization want to add its name?
Endorse the callLegal defense fund
It’s time to get ready for the battle.
Two lawyers have fought this case for nearly two and a half years with minimal compensation. A case that should have been laughed out of the courtroom is not going away, and a real defense costs real money.
- 01
Pay the defense team
Compensate attorneys Joe Welch and Stephen Scapelliti for their longstanding and continuing service.
- 02
Cover the costs of the case
Depositions, transcripts and the other expenses of fighting these charges in court.
- 03
Defend everyone’s rights
Beating these charges protects the freedom to speak out and to protest for all of us.
$55,000 initial goal
Or give by check
- Make your check out to “Jill Stein for President 2024”.
- Write “Legal Defense Fund” on the memo line.
- Mail it to: Scott Marshall
Treasurer, Stein legal defense
22906 “F” 56th Ave W
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043
There is no contribution limit for legal defense fund donations, per FEC rules.
Online giving is coming soon. Sign the petition and tick “keep me posted” and we’ll tell you the moment it’s live.
The defense
Who’s fighting this case
Joe Welch
Lead defense attorney
A criminal defense attorney who has led this case from the start. He has a record of successfully defending the unjustly accused in the Mike Brown/Ferguson, Occupy, Peabody Coal and anti-genocide protests, and more.
Stephen Scapelliti
Assisting attorney
An attorney who advised the 2024 campaign and has supported progressive organizations and candidates for decades.
Latest
Case updates
September 14, 2026
Prosecution formally begins in St. Louis
Two and a half years after the protest, the case against Jill Stein formally got under way in a St. Louis court.
Read update →September 11, 2026
Stein meets supporters to kick off the fight against the charges
Press release: the charges are “an embarrassment to the University and the prosecutor’s office.”
Read release →September 2026
A letter from Jill: help me fight these charges
“It’s clear now this case that should have been laughed out of the courtroom is not going away.”
Read the letter →In the press
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch · August 29, 2025 Special prosecutors named in Jill Stein assault case stemming from Wash U protest
- St. Louis Public Radio · April 28, 2024 Photos: St. Louis-area police arrest roughly 100 at Washington University anti-war protest
- St. Louis Public Radio · April 27, 2024 Report from the Washington University protest and the demand to cut ties with Boeing
Sign · Give · Share
Opposing genocide is not a crime.
Every name, every dollar and every share raises the cost of this prosecution. Stand with Jill, and with everyone’s right to protest.