Help A Trans Activist Arrested At Pride Make Bail

My name is Abby and I’m with the Resistance Coalition and also a member of Queer X. At WeHo Pride on Saturday, June 3rd, me and my comrade Xodiak with Queer X were arrested at WeHo Pride.  While Xodiak and  were preparing our booth and a wagon of mutual aid supplies to pass out, about 5 cops swarmed upon Xodiak while at at our booth and immediately tackled him to put him under arrest.  Standing next to him, I immediately tried to jump between them and the cops to protect them, resulting in me being under arrest as well.  During this time, they put me in hand cuffs and a crowd started to form.  As people were complaining that I didn’t do anything, they assured both me, my comrades, and the public that I wasn’t under arrest and that I was just being taken to the station as a formality.  They continued this story the whole time I was at the station until they took me to what I thought was a room for questioning and tricked me into being locked into a cell.  They refused to tell me or Xodiak for hours why we were under arrest.  The cops claim Xodiak has a warrant out for his arrest and were announcing to the crowd it was for robbery. Why does he have a warrant out for his arrest? BECAUSE HE WAS PROTECTING THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY IN WEHO WHEN COPS DIDN’T! On April 15th, Queer X hosted a defense of the Drag Story Story at the West Hollywood library because a transphobic, right-wing extremist reporter named Jairo put out a call to protest it. Jairo is known for infiltrating drag story hours throughout the whole county in order to disrupt the event and film families with the intention to doxx them online. Jairo is now claiming that Xodiak stole his phone at the event even though he continued to film the event from outside afterwards. Xodiak was unaware of this warrant, but did have some suspicions because a homemade “WANTED” flier has been being distributed by dangerous far-right organizations. However we had no reason to believe it was a real, so when Xodiak was arrested at Pride, we had no idea why. They wouldn’t tell us.  This is why we say NO COPS AT PRIDE!  Because even if the cops were hired by the gay community, they are still ultimately upholding a violent patriarchal system that is AGAINST our community.  There are other options of Private Security or community volunteers, and WeHo Pride has been uninterested in this despite community push back.  Xodiak is a known trans activist who frequently is protecting the community when cops fail to.  They are a trans two-spirit indigenous individual who has been struggling with housing for a long time.  I can list numerous events that they have led, but it’s too much to list.  Xodiak is an activist full time and one of the only vogue activists in the area, using dance as a form of disruption at protests and frequently putting their face out there even though they have been targeted.  They are missing a tooth because they were targeted and punched in the face by fascists while relaxing at the beach.  They were attacked at Saticoy Elementary just the day before.  Now they are being targeted by the cops while working for the community at what should’ve been a safe space.  The cops know him.  They know his face.  They know his name everywhere he goes.  Xodiak has led many anti-cop actions as well, including being open about how they got HIV from a cop who raped them while in custody.  Cops have been targeting them for a long time.This happening during WeHo Pride was not a coincidence.  Queer X was going to be leading the No Cops At Pride call out of WeHo Pride during the March on Sunday.  I believe that this was a coordinated effort to make sure that the organizer of that action was behind bars for the weekend in order to prevent it from happening.  They knew who Xodiak was.  We had a banner up in our booth that said “No KKKops At Pride.”  All morning cops had been circulating our booth, pointing and laughing at all our signs for the ERA, and watching us.  I was told the reason for the excessive arrest and force was because they were treating Xodiak as violent and hoping he would give in right away when he saw so many cops.  Instead, they escalated the situation and terrified the LGBTQ+ community while they should’ve been in a safe space. The arrest took place around noon (only 30 minutes after Pride had even started).  I was released around 7pm with no bail, but I have a date to appear in court for a misdemeanor charge of “Obstructing a Public Officer.”  I was told that the only reason I was released was because the West Hollywood mayor was called by local organizers and they had prepared to keep me for the weekend as well.Xodiak is still in jail and will mostly likely be there until Tuesday at least.  They have bail set at $100,000, which means we need $10,000 in order to get them out.  With the warrant for their arrest combined with their history from when they were a teenager living unhoused in Texas, Xodiak is being treated as aggressive and a flight risk.  WE NEED THE COMMUNITY TO GET THEM OUT NOW!!!!  Xodiak works for the community even when they can’t afford to.  They’ve led actions to defend our community when they’ve been unhoused themselves.  Frequently use the food they are struggling to buy for themselves on the unhoused.  They are allowing themselves to constantly be targeted by putting their face out there so other community members can be protected.  I love Xodiak so much, and I need help getting this bail from the community.  They are turning 25 next week and I don’t want them in jail for it.  Last I checked they are at least in a separated cell to avoid any trans related conflict with a bunk mate, but they’re going to be in a cell with only a thin blanket (no pillow btw) and lights that don’t turn off for Pride weekend rather than enjoying the tickets that we got.  This was supposed to be a safe day.  A fun day.  Of all the dangerous situations we are put in at protests, today we were at Pride and we were supposed to feel safe.  Now I’m traumatized and will never feel safe at Pride again.  Please help me help my best friend in their time of need.