Ali Alexander

{{bronze}}[[File:Ali Alexander.jpeg|thumb|right|200px|Near the capitol, foreshadowing his future.]]
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'''Ali Alexander''' {{lived|1984 or 1985}},<ref>[https://www.bayoubrief.com/2020/11/08/theater-of-the-absurd-how-a-louisiana-extremist-helped-the-trump-campaign-manufacture-outrage/ Theater of the Absurd: How A Louisiana Extremist Helped the Trump Campaign Manufacture Outrage: Months before Tuesday's election, a controversial GOP operative with ties to Baton Rouge began planning a series of voter fraud protests across the nation.] by Lamar White, Jr. (November 8, 2020) ''Bayou Brief''.</ref><ref>[https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/12/18/law-firm-tied-far-right-fringe-registers-stop-steal-llc-alabama Law Firm Tied to Far-Right Fringe Registers Stop the Steal LLC in Alabama] by Michael Edison Hayden (December 18, 2020) ''Southern Poverty Law Center''.</ref> phone as '''Ali Abdul Razaq Akbar''',<ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republicans-twitter-ali-alexander-stop-the-steal_n_6026fb26c5b6f88289fbab57 How Republican Politics (And Twitter) Created Ali Alexander, The Man Behind ‘Stop The Steal’: A HuffPost investigation reveals many links, past and present, between the far-right extremist and the GOP establishment.] by Luke O’Brien (03/07/2021 10:09 am ET Updated Mar 08, 2021) ''Huffington Post''.</ref> is an [[United States|American]] [[far-right]] internet [[troll]], [[woo]]-pusher, [[Bullshit|self-described "philosopher"]], and pro-[[Donald Trump|Trump]] grifter of questionable competence, usually playing second fiddle to more prominent far-right personalities like [[Mike Cernovich]], [[Roger Stone]], [[Jacob Wohl]], and [[Laura Loomer]]. He was one of the chief organizers of "Stop the Steal", the [[conspiracy theory]] and protest movement intended to overturn the results of the [[2020 U.S. presidential election]], as well as a former fellow at the [[Council for National Policy]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/capitol-rally-organizers-before-riots/2021/01/16/c5b40250-552d-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html Rallies ahead of Capitol riot were planned by established Washington insiders] by Robert O'Harrow Jr. (Jan. 17, 2021 at 5:00 a.m. PST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> He's also a convicted [[Crime|felon]].<ref name=sommer>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/stop-the-steal-organizer-in-hiding-after-denying-blame-for-riot ‘Stop the Steal’ Organizer in Hiding After Denying Blame for Riot: On Sunday night, Twitter banned Ali Alexander’s personal account and an account for “Stop the Steal.”] by Will Sommer (Updated Jan. 10, 2021 9:40PM ET / Published Jan. 10, 2021 9:08PM ET) ''The Daily Beast''.</ref><ref name=richardson>[https://observer.com/2018/10/robert-mercer-bankrolled-pac-ali-alexander/ Robert Mercer Bankrolled PAC Advised By Notorious Fringe ‘Philosopher’ Ali Alexander] by Davis Richardson (10/30/18 8:00am) ''Observer''.</ref>

==Grifting==
Alexander has a history of running various non-profit political organizations of questionable legitimacy. He was founder and CEO of the National Bloggers’ Club, nominally a group for [[conservative]] bloggers and writers, which was tied to "shady data collection operations" for [[Republican Party|GOP]] [[Political action group|Super PACs]], and was shut down by the state of [[Fun:Texas|Texas]] for failing to register as a 501(c)(3) [[charity]] despite claiming to be one.<ref>[https://www.breitbartunmasked.com/2014/03/07/texas-shuts-down-the-national-bloggers-club/Texas Shuts Down The National Bloggers Club] by Matt Osborne (March 7, 2014) ''Breitbart Unmasked''.</ref> The Club also solicited donations for a fraudulent "[[Andrew Breitbart]] Scholarship Fund" that had no actual involvement from Breitbart himself.<ref>[https://crooksandliars.com/matt-osborne/national-bloggers-club-and-their-supe The National Bloggers Club And Their Super PAC Friends] by Matt Osborne (9/12/12 4:00pm) ''Crooks and Liars''.</ref>

He ran a number of [[Tea Party]] [[astroturf]] sites with [[Loaded language|loaded names]] like "American Liberty Alliance", "Americans For Prosperity", "Tea Party Brew.com" and "BlogBash", which were similarly scammy.{{fact}} His current operation, a digital marketing firm called Vice and Victory, also appears to be little more than just another front for Alexander to collect 'donations'.{{fact}}

Alexander, a self-declared "[[woo|interpreter of energy]]", convinced right-wing billionaire Trump supporter Robert Mercer to donate him $60,000 through a PAC he had allegedly "advised".<ref name=richardson/>

==Election and insurrection==
{{main|2021 U.S. Capitol riot}}
Alexander was one of the primary architects of "Stop the Steal", a pro-Trump protest movement that sought to overturn the legitimate results of the free and fair [[2020 US presidential election|presidential election]], which the wannabe-[[dictator]] had lost ''bigly''.<ref name=splc>[https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/07/07/we-make-mistakes-twitters-embrace-extreme-far-right 'We Make Mistakes': Twitter's Embrace of the Extreme Far Right] (July 07, 2021) ''Southern Poverty Law Center''.</ref> Alexander organized various protests and rallies, in which he chanted "victory or death" (including on the day before the riot)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210703171410/https://twitter.com/ZTPetrizzo/status/1346577244274249733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346577244274249733%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fstop-the-steal-organizer-in-hiding-after-denying-blame-for-riot Far-right activist and "Stop the Steal" leader Ali Alexander in Freedom Plaza leads the crowd in a "Victory or death!" chant.] by Zachary Petrizzo (2:00 PM · Jan 5, 2021) ''Twitter'' (archived from July 3, 2021).</ref> — thus, already clearly indicating what he truly believes about America's [[democratic]] process. Alexander claimed that he organized "Stop the Steal" along with Congressional Representatives Andy Biggs, [[Mo Brooks]] and [[Paul Gosar]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/13/ali-alexander-capitol-biggs-gosar/ A ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer, now banned by Twitter, said three GOP lawmakers helped plan his D.C. rally] by Teo Armus (January 13, 2021 at 5:14 a.m. EST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Due to a massive data hack of far-right web hosting company [[Epik]] by [[Anonymous]], it was revealed that Alexander or someone working with him tried to remove information that linked Alexander to more than 100 "Stop the Steal"-related domains that Alexander owned shortly after the riot,<ref>[https://www.dailydot.com/debug/ali-alexander-epik-hack-web-domains-capitol-riot/ After the Capitol riot, ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer Ali Alexander was scrambling to hide his digital footprint: The 'Stop the Steal' founder's data was swept up in the breach of web hosting company Epik.] by Mikael Thalen (Sep 20, 2021) ''Daily Dot''.</ref> thus showing [[consciousness of guilt]].

Alexander, along with [[Alex Jones]], was one of the chief organizers of the January 6<sup>th</sup> pro-Trump "Wild Protest" march that devolved into a riot when Trump sicced it on the Capitol building; the riot claimed the lives of five people. In the wake of the incident, Alexander, refusing to disavow the treasonous action of his supporters, promptly went right back to e-begging, claiming that he was "in hiding" and needed $2000 a day to pay for a security detail.<ref name=sommer/>

Alexander promoted violence on multiple social media platforms, including [[Twitter]], but was only briefly banned by Twitter in 2019.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210215053345/https://www.theepochtimes.com/video-theres-an-accountability-tidal-wave-coming-ali-alexander-national-organizer-of-stop-the-steal_3615128.html ‘There’s An Accountability Tidal Wave Coming’—Ali Alexander, National Organizer of ‘Stop the Steal’] by Jan Jekielek (December 11, 2020) ''Epoch Times'' (archived from February 15, 2021).</ref><ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ali-akbar-jack-dorsey-twitter_n_5c40cb9ce4b027c3bbbf3a0c Jack Dorsey Thinks Fringe Figure Ali Akbar Makes ‘Interesting Points’: The Twitter CEO consulted with the right-wing political commentator over whether he should permanently remove Alex Jones from the platform.] by Jesselyn Cook (01/18/2019 05:45 am ET) ''Huffington Post''.</ref> He was not permanently banned until after the actual promoted violence occurred following January 6, 2021.<ref name=splc/><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210109051654/https://twitter.com/ali Ali #StopTheSteal] Alexander Ali, ''Twitter'' (archived from January 9, 2021).</ref> This can be attributed to his friendship with Twitter's CEO [[Jack Dorsey]] and Dorsey and Twitter's [[libertarian]] [[ideology]] of promoting far-right [[extremism]].<ref name=splc/>

Alexander has since been banned from Twitter, [[Facebook]], [[Instagram]], Paypal, Venmo, and Patreon. One could conclude from all this that Alexander suffers from a [[persecution complex]] because he thinks that "is being persecuted for his faith in Jesus Christ and our republic",<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210207053732/https://www.alialexander.org/ Alialexander.org] (archived from February 7, 2021).</ref> rather than for his support for the [[Coup d'état|violent overthrow of a democracy]].

On October 7, the United States House Select Committee on the [[2021 U.S. coup attempt]] issued a subpoena requesting records and testimony from Alexander. After sitting through an 8+ hour deposition, he posted on his Telegram that he hoped lightning struck and burned down the White House.<ref>Zachary Petrizzo, [https://www.thedailybeast.com/jan-6-stop-the-steal-organizer-ali-alexander-hopes-lightning-strikes-and-burns-down-biden-white-house Jan. 6 Organizer: I Hope Lightning Strikes and ‘Burns’ Down Biden White House]. ''The Daily Beast'', 25 January 2022.</ref>

==''Importing Ilhan''==
Alexander was one of the chief signal-boosters of the debunked [[conspiracy theory]] that [[Ilhan Omar]]'s ex-husband was actually her brother and they only married so he could be granted US citizenship. The claim doesn't even make any sense, since US citizens can petition the USCIS to bring a brother or sister to the [[United States]], making a [[marriage]] unnecessary.<ref>[https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/bringing-siblings-live-united-states-permanent-residents Bringing Siblings to Live in the United States as Permanent Residents] ''U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services''.</ref> 

Alexander arranged for himself, Laura Loomer, and Jacob Wohl to travel to Minneapolis, Omar's hometown, to "investigate" their own nonsense claims, fundraising thousands of dollars from their gullible fanbase in the process. Their visit to Minneapolis resulted in a series of weird tweets and streams by Wohl about Minneapolis being a [[no-go zone]] overrun by [[Somalia|Somali]] [[Jihadist]]s,<ref name="usa2">[https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/02/26/jacob-wohl-spread-twitter-lies-mueller-rbg-2020-election/2917226002/ This 21-year-old tweeted lies about Robert Mueller and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Now, he's eyeing the 2020 election] by Gus Garcia-Roberts (Published: 7:16 a.m. ET Feb. 26, 2019; Updated: 1:17 p.m. ET Feb. 26, 2019) ''USA Today''.</ref> and claimed he traveled around town in "armoured cars" with a team of security professionals in order to avoid hitmen. The armoured cars and security are conveniently never shown on camera and were likely yet another scam by Alexander to solicit donations.<ref name="vox">[https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/2/18245176/jacob-wohl-trump-cpac-conservatism-ilhan-omar-grift Jacob Wohl, the Trump internet activist cashing in on conspiracy theories, explained: Why a failed teen hedge fund manager tried to launch a smear campaign against Pete Buttigieg and keeps pushing far-right conspiracy theories.] by Jane Coaston (Updated Apr 30, 2019, 4:55pm EDT) ''Vox''.</ref> 

The trio filmed an online documentary, ''Importing Ilhan'', about the trip, which was posted to his Alexander's website ''Culttture''. After word got out that Wohl had filed a false police report on-camera,<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/jacob-wohl-faked-death-threats-against-himself Jacob Wohl Faked Death Threats Against Himself: One came from a phony account the wingnut provocateur created and ran just before he was banned from Twitter.] by Will Sommer (Updated May. 08, 2019 6:38PM ET; Published Mar. 13, 2019 11:55AM ET) ''The Daily Beast''.</ref> the video was promptly taken down, and Alexander disavowed Wohl.

==White supremacist dogwhistling==
{{main|1=White supremacy|3=Code word}}
Like most prominent Trumpland personalities, Alexander has a long history of [[dogwhistling]] to the [[alt-right]] and [[Neo-Nazi]] elements of the MAGA movement. After [[Unite the Right]], Alexander interviewed alt-right personality and [[Baked Alaska]] bestie {{wpl|Matthew Colligan||,}} known for propagating the phrase "[[Hitler]] [[Alt-right glossary#Did nothing wrong|did nothing wrong]]" on a [[The Gateway Pundit|Gateway Pundit]] podcast hosted by {{wpl|Lucian Wintrich||.}}{{fact}} Wintrich was later fired by Gateway for appearing in a podcast with [[Nick Fuentes]], where he claimed [[antisemitism|antisemitic]] [[hate crimes]] were [[false flag]]s.{{fact}}

Alexander has a habit of [[Alt-right glossary#Naming the Jew|noting members of the media who are Jewish]], a common dogwhistling tactic of the alt-right.<ref name=richardson/>

==Other wackiness==
[[File:Jack Dorsey and Alexander Ali.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Jack Dorsey with Alexander]]
Alexander was convicted in 2006 for theft and again in 2008 for debit card fraud.<ref>[https://meaww.com/who-ali-alexander-stop-the-steal-organizer-twitter-suspended-convicted-felon-arab-african-american Who is Ali Alexander? 'Official organizer' of Trump DC rally was charged for vehicle burglary, debit card fraud: Alexander has been involved with Tea Party politics since the early 2000s, having been part of John McCain's presidential campaign] by Neetha K (Updated On: 07:30 PST, Jan 12, 2021) ''MEAWW''.</ref> Changing his name probably has something to do with this.

He co-founded ''Culttture'', a pro-Trump website featuring a number of MAGA personalities, which for a time was only soliciting money but now appears to be wholly defunct.

Alexander has a history of making equally bizarre [[non sequitur]] statements on social media on par with Alex Jones' claims that runoff from [[Nuclear power|nuclear reactors]] is turning the frogs [[gay]], which includes an assertion that orange is a sacred color given to him by [[God]]. Alexander had also previously propagated a series of [[birther]]-like claims, such as one that [[Kamala Harris]] is "not an American Black" (by his own criteria, Alexander wouldn't be either).<ref>[https://www.dailydot.com/debug/ali-alexander-kamala-harris/ This Trumpworld operative obsessed with Kamala Harris’ background has a past he doesn’t want you to see] by Zachary Petrizzo (Jan 26, 2021, 9:13 pm) ''Daily Dot''.</ref><ref>[https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/29/trump-cernovich-milo-yiannopoulos-richard-spencer-alt-right-2018-221916 Trump's Culture Warriors Go Home: They were poised to storm Washington. Then America stopped caring.] by Ben Schreckinger (November/December 2018) ''Politico Magazine''.</ref>

In 2018, Alexander met with Twitter CEO [[Jack Dorsey]] regarding whether it was advisable to ban Alex Jones from Twitter, stating that both he and Jones had "interesting points" to make. Alas, it was not enough to save either from the ban hammer.<ref group=note>Alexander had once been briefly blocked in the past when he threatened to murder the congresswoman [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]].{{fact}}</ref>

After being banned from most social media platforms post-Capitol riot, Alexander made a series of bizarre and threatening claims on the livestreaming platform Trovo. Among other things, he announced plans for a "MAGA mega-city" and another planned community in South America called the "City of Alexander".<ref>[https://www.dailydot.com/debug/ali-alexander-maga-mega-city/ Ali Alexander wants to build a MAGA ‘mega city’ and a backup in South America: 'I am going to create a society and a community and a culture and a language.'] by Zachary Petrizzo (Published Feb 11, 2021; Updated Feb 11, 2021, 1:00 pm CST) ''Daily Dot''.</ref><ref>[https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/stop-steal-organizer-ali-alexander-now-streaming-clear-threats-trovo-0 “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander is now streaming clear threats on Trovo: Alexander threatened to meet authorities “on the battlefield” should they try to arrest him] by Olivia Little (02/11/21 12:36 PM EST) ''Media Matters for America''.</ref> He also stated he would organize further Stop the Steal rallies and that he was creating "tools of creation and tools of chaos".{{fact}} He also called for the abolition of the free press, labeling them "systems that control us," and challenged law enforcement to combat if they attempted to arrest him. Given that most of these "plans" involved him soliciting donations, they're likely little more than additional grifts.{{fact}}

Alexander once said he could time travel, and that "of course the Jews time travel."<ref name="JewishDoctorWho">[https://www.mediaite.com/politics/stop-the-steal-organizer-ali-alexander-claims-he-can-time-travel-and-will-kari-lake-to-win-in-az/ ‘Stop The Steal’ Organizer Ali Alexander Claims He Can Time Travel and ‘Will’ Kari Lake to Win in AZ]
by Alex Griffing (11/14/22 5:38 PM EST) ''Mediate''.</ref> He added: "Even if Kari [Lake] was going to lose, I would will it into existence. And I know that sounds kooky and I know that sounds crazy."<ref name="JewishDoctorWho"/> Lake lost her election (even if she denies it), so he must have changed his mind.

In 2023, Alexander was involved in a feud with [[Milo Yiannopoulos]] stemming from their involvement with the disastrous 2024 [[Ye]] presidential campaign. During the feud, Alexander (who was revealed to be [[bisexual]] by Yiannopoulos) was accused of allegedly proposing or sending nude pictures to two teenage boys in the MAGA movement.<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/stop-the-steal-organizer-ali-alexander-apologizes-after-being-accused-of-asking-teen-boys-for-sexual-pics "‘Stop the Steal’ Organizer Apologizes After Being Accused of Asking Teen Boys for D*ck Pics"] by Will Sommer, Daily Beast, 2023 April 17</ref> In mid April 2023, Alexander, who previously fervently denied these accusations, released an apology for "inappropriate messages" while insisting that "nothing unlawful has occurred", and claimed that he was being targeted by "fake accusers or literal honey pots eager to frame me."<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/ali-alexander-apologizes-inappropriate-messages-1234716609/ "Stop the Steal Founder Ali Alexander Apologizes Amid Allegations of Texting Teens"] by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone, 2023 April 17</ref> Alexander also stated "this is too gay" regarding the situation and apologized, but did not deny the allegations.<ref>Caitlin Cruz, [https://jezebel.com/top-maga-organizer-says-this-is-too-gay-when-asked-abou-1850345805 Top MAGA Organizer Says 'This Is Too Gay' When Asked About Having Solicited Nudes From Teen Boys]. ''Jezebel'', 17 April 2023.</ref>

==Stopped clock==
{{main|Stopped clock}}
In bizarre testimony that Alexander gave to defend himself in the wake of the January 6<sup>th</sup> coup attempt, he stated how he sympathizes with black and Arab men who face persecution and racism (as he himself is half black and half Arab). However, the rest of the article is just him rambling on about how he was “innocent” during January 6<sup>th</sup>.<ref>[https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/ali-alexander-jan6-testimony/72943d764dc2b3e6/full.pdf Ali Alexander January 6th testimony] via ''The New York Times''.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Birtherism]]
*[[Alex Jones]]
*[[Donald Trump]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Ali}}
[[Category:2021 U.S. coup attempt]]
[[Category:Alt-right]]
[[Category:Antisemites]]
[[Category:Christians]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Convicted felons]]
[[Category:Completely heterosexual]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Internet kooks]]
[[Category:Internalized discrimination]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Trolls]]
[[Category:2020 election denialists]]

Categories: 2021 U.S. coup attempt, Alt-right, Antisemites, Christians, Conspiracy theorists, Convicted felons, Completely heterosexual, Fascists, Internet kooks, Internalized discrimination, Racists, Right-wing activists, Texas, Trolls, 2020 election denialists