Alexei Wood
Wood was arrested in January along with nearly 200 other journalists, protesters, and bystanders after a protest at the inauguration turned violent. He was charged with “inciting a riot.”
Even a cursory glance at Texas photojournalist Alexei Wood’s body of work on his website Lex Shoots confirms his stated self-conception as a “narrative warrior.” He writes there: “Make no mistake, resistance cultures and conflicts are my beat.”
On December 21, a jury in Washington D.C.’s Superior Court, Judge Lynn Leibovitz presiding, acquitted Wood and five other defendants of all seven felony and misdemeanor charges related to their arrests at the street protests on President Trump’s Inauguration Day—January 20, 2017. Wood was there livestreaming the demonstration and came under special court scrutiny for his role as a journalist. In her rejection of defense attorneys’ motion for acquittal, Judge Leibovitz said:
“With respect to Mr. Wood, a reasonable juror could find that he was a principal and an aider and abettor of the riot. Yes, he was there filming. There is no evidence in the record that that was for a purpose inconsistent with participation in the riot.”
On the morning after the 42 “not guilty” verdicts beat a steady drum for the continued survival of First Amendment protections of speech, assembly, and press for yet another day, I spoke to Wood on the telephone.
Frances Madeson: Last January you traveled from Texas without a specific professional assignment, planning to cover the Disrupt J20 and Women’s March demonstrations in Washington, D.C. Why did you think it was important to livestream these demonstrations on January 20?
Alexei Wood: I also went to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia before that; protest and resistance culture is what I’ve been fascinated by for pretty much my whole adult life.
This Trump thing is so whack, and I’m glad people are pissed, I like populist movements—I love the pushback, I love the resistance. I knew how contentious this election was, how contentious this president is, the power grabbing, how much of the white supremacist stuff is coming out from the shadows, fascism in general.
So I was looking for the most friction, and I sure as shit found it.
This Trump thing is so whack, and I’m glad people are pissed, I like populist movements—I love the pushback, I love the resistance...and I sure as shit found it.
Q: Over 230 people—protesters, medics, legal observers, journalists—experienced mass arrests that day. Do you see any commonalities with the Standing Rock Water Protectors and protesters against police violence in St. Louis, who were also subjected to mass arrest? What do you imagine the aims of the government are in pursuing mass arrests?
Wood: Now that I’m not guilty on all my charges I can speak freely to that, and I want to. It’s all speculation on my part, but I feel pretty damned convinced that it is literally to repress any dissent. The court system and the government system and the prison system, it’s all the same system. That is “the house.” The laws support it, the police work for it; it’s a conspiracy, mind you, and it’s used for repression.
Straight up, the whole group was targeted before the march even started; we were kettled at the end which is utterly against police standard operating procedures, that all came out in court. They did a dragnet to try to see if anything sticks on anyone. And they don’t care—that’s the vicious attitude that’s become the government’s permanent stance.
It’s literally to use the police and court systems to try and justify repression. It’s behavior modification at its totalitarian finest.
Q: Your defense attorney described the decision to prosecute more than 200 people on multiple felony charges carrying up to 60 years in prison as grossly over-charging. Can you describe the psychological effects of contemplating a lifetime in prison? Did you look to other trials for a sense of hope?
Wood: The Chicago 10 were absolutely role models this entire time, and I say ten because both their lawyers also had to do time for contempt of court. They were a huge inspiration as I tried to wrap my head around this conspiracy charge; I just didn’t know what the hell was going on, and that was the reference point I could kind of lean into.
With respect to the over-charging, oh my god did they show their ass; they tried to intimidate the shit out of us. And right away we knew we were going to work collectively, we weren’t going to roll on each other, we weren’t going to uphold their narrative—no confessions, we’d stay strong. The legal system is a human construct, it’s a house of cards that props up legitimacy.
Q: With that viewpoint, can you speak about your decision to submit to the authority of the court? Did you consider alternatives, like seeking asylum?
Wood: I never submitted to the court system. I played the game to the bare minimum. I shaved, I wore a suit, I didn’t burst out laughing, but that’s about it. And I showed up.
Q: How did you sustain yourself?
Wood: The community of support was just phenomenal, people from all over the world, for instance the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression—all these advocates for free press showed up super hard: the US Press Freedom Tracker, the National Press Photographers Association. And also the Defend J20 supporters were just incredible, there was fundraising all over the world. I certainly didn’t have a want for anything and I had all this space just to fight. I’m so thankful, so appreciative.
Q: One of the remaining civic institutions so far undemolished by the current administration is the jury system. Are you worried for this jury’s well-being?
Wood: My jurors? I hadn’t thought about that. I mean I hope not. I hope there’s no alt-right doxing.
The “criminal justice system” has a humongous amount of biases, hierarchies, privileges, and lack of privileges built into it. I happened to get a jury pool that’s very left-leaning, in the capital of the United States.
I had a perfect storm, all around: the Trump administration is the most reviled administration we’ve had for a long time; at the same time we have the rise of anti-oppression as a household topic, be it racism, gender fluidity, these are household conversations that previously only happened in activist circles. Also the rise of anti-capitalism, anti-fascism movements.
The State’s main, and really only, tool is fear, coercion, and control; this is a non-stop power struggle. I felt like other than being pepper-sprayed, which was a horrendous experience, if I had to go through this court trial, I had the best situation possible.
Q: Did you feel abandoned by the mainstream journalism community?
Wood: For me personally, I don’t feel entitled that anyone needs to report on me. But the lack of coverage about the J20 anti-capitalist, anti-fascist kangaroo court trial does speak to me about the agenda of mainstream media.
The conversation I’m interested in talking about now is the new media landscape ahead where information is localized, and I am really looking forward to when the distribution of information isn’t centralized any more.
The conversation I’m interested in talking about now is the new media landscape ahead where information is localized, and I am really looking forward to when the distribution of information isn’t centralized any more. The Internet, Wikipedia, hashtags, Twitter, all this stuff, it’s democratized the consuming, producing and distribution of information.
Q: As you prepare to travel home to see your mother and pick up your dog what do you say to the other 188 defendants?
Wood: Stay strong, we’ve got support for you, we’re going to get through this. Be in love not fear; love is fear’s opposite. Feel connected to the planet, feel connected to humans, be in your heart space. Make your decisions based on doing the best you can in the world, not out of coercion from the government.