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Adam Kokesh
Adam Kokesh in 2013.
Born	Adam Charles Kokesh (1982-02-01) February 1, 1982 (age 42) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican (2010)
Movement	Libertarian, Anti-war

Military career
Service / branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1999–2007
Rank	Corporal
Unit	3rd Civil Affairs Group
Battles / wars	Iraq War

Website	Official website

Adam Charles Kokesh (born February 1, 1982) is an American libertarian anti-war activist and self-professed anarchist who has called for a "new American revolution" to disband the existing United States. Kokesh was a corporal in the United States Marine Corps and is a veteran of the Iraq War. Starting in 2007, he became a member and leading proponent of Iraq Veterans Against the War. In 2011, he and Nathan Cox co-founded Veterans for Ron Paul. In 2010 and 2011, he hosted a talk radio show and had a brief television stint on RT. Some of his demonstrations protesting U.S. military missions overseas and his acts of civil disobedience have been controversial.

Personal background

Kokesh was born on February 2, 1982, in San Francisco, California. He is the son of Charles Kokesh, a Santa Fe businessman and former owner of the defunct Santa Fe Horse Park. Kokesh is Jewish.

Kokesh attended the Native American Preparatory School in San Ysidro, New Mexico. He received a bachelor's degree from Claremont McKenna College. Kokesh learned Arabic for his tenure in Iraq.

Marine Corps service

In 1999, Kokesh enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. In 2004, he was deployed to Iraq and served in Fallujah. He was a liaison between the U.S. military and Iraqi civilians as a member of the 3rd Civil Affairs Group. He also worked a security checkpoint while in Iraq. He brought home a pistol from Iraq in 2004 in violation of military rules, as a result of which he was demoted from sergeant to corporal, and shortly thereafter he was honorably discharged from active duty. Kokesh received the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Commendation Medal for his combat in Fallujah.

Ready Reserve discharge

After his discharge, Kokesh was a member of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) and on March 19, 2007, he participated in an anti-war protest and was named in a photo caption of that event in the Washington Post. As a result, on March 29, a Marine Major sent him an e-mail to tell him he was being investigated for misconduct by appearing at a political event while wearing his uniform. Kokesh responded, using an expletive in his reply, thereby incurring an additional misconduct charge under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

In May 2007, a hearing was convened to consider changing Kokesh's military discharge from "honorable" to "other than honorable". The panel recommended Kokesh be given a "general discharge under honorable conditions," which is a discharge status below "honorable," and above "other than honorable". Kokesh's appeal of the decision was denied.

The national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Gary Kurpius supported Kokesh and two others arrested with him at the protest, saying "All they're doing is exercising the same democratic voice we're trying to instill over in Iraq right now." The VFW issued a "blistering statement" with the headline: "VFW to Corps: Don't Stifle Freedom of Speech."

Protest activities

2007

In February 2007, he became an active participant in the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). On March 19, 2007, to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Kokesh and 12 other IVAW members participated in an occupation-like mock patrol of Washington, D.C. Kokesh first came to national attention after he was interviewed on CNN and his photograph appeared in various newspapers, including the front page of the Los Angeles Times at a protest during Alberto Gonzales's testimony to Congress regarding the dismissal of U.S. attorneys. Kokesh, wearing his marine corps Boonie hat, held up a sign counting the number of times Gonzalez said "I don't remember" or "I don't recall" (Kokesh claimed Gonzalez used such phrases 74 times).

In April 2007, Kokesh and a number of other activists were arrested for protesting the Iraq war in the Senate Hart Office Building. Kokesh had performed a ceremony for lost service members using an American flag.

In June 2007, Kokesh along with IVAW members Liam Madden and Nate Lewis were arrested for crossing onto Fort Benning during an anti-war protest. A spokesperson for the IVAW said the three had accidentally stepped onto the base while talking to a guard. The trespass charges were dismissed.

Kokesh enrolled in graduate studies in political management at George Washington University. In October 2007, Kokesh, along with six other students, created controversy by putting up mock political posters across the university campus to mock what they called the racist and Islamophobic "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" being observed at the campus. The event was organized by a conservative student organization, and invited controversial speaker David Horowitz on the George Washington University campus.

2008

On September 2, 2008, Kokesh spoke at Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic in St. Paul, Minnesota.

On September 4, 2008, Kokesh interrupted Senator John McCain's acceptance speech of the GOP nomination for president at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Holding a sign reading "McCain Votes Against Vets" on one side and "You can't win an occupation" on the other, Kokesh yelled, "Ask him why he votes against vets!" Kokesh was released shortly after being detained by local police.

2011

On May 28, 2011, Kokesh and other activists participated in a flash mob-silent dance at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. in protest of a recent ruling against dancing in the monument. The activists were arrested. A much larger protest on June 4, 2011, organized by Kokesh and Code Pink, involved about 200 protesters and 75 dancers. About 10 minutes after the dancing began, police began clearing the monument. No arrests were made. When asked by a journalist if he had a permit to protest, Kokesh reportedly produced a copy of the Constitution and said, "Actually I got a permit. It's the same one I swore an oath to when I enlisted in the marine corps. And it says something about 'freedom of assembly.'"

2012

On February 20, 2012, after a "Veterans For Ron Paul" rally, 500 marchers, including veterans, active-duty service, and their families, marched towards the White House. There they engaged in ceremonial flag-folding in memory of deceased soldiers and periods of silence for soldiers who died in battle and for those who committed suicide after returning.

2013

In May 2013, Kokesh announced he is planning an armed pro-gun rights march from Virginia to Washington, D.C. on July 4, 2013, to coincide with Independence Day.

On May 18, 2013, Kokesh was arrested in Philadelphia by federal park rangers together with other protesters at the 5th iteration of a marijuana legalization rally known as Smoke Down Prohibition. The Smoke Down event has occurred at Independence National Historical Park in downtown Philadelphia once every month since January 2013 with no prior arrests or police intervention. Don Dezarn was widely criticized by online commentators for possibly planting something on Kokesh, but he has been publicly defended by Kokesh's own producers and others who were at the rally. Kokesh and N.A. Poe appeared before a judge on Monday May 20 and were charged with assaulting a federal officer and resisting arrest. There is widespread speculation that the federal government seeks to harass and intimidate activists with the arrest of Kokesh, who has called for an armed march on Washington D.C. on July 4, 2013.

Along with his release on May 24, 2013, Kokesh called for a "Final American Revolution" to take place on July 4, 2013 in place of the previously planned armed march on Washington D.C.. This is planned to take place in all 50 state capitols with protests to be only absolved by each governors agreement to initiate an orderly dissolution of the federal government through secession.

2010 congressional campaign

In 2010, Kokesh ran unsuccessfully in the primary for the Republican nomination for New Mexico's 3rd congressional district seat. His campaign donations were mainly from out-of-state, and he received endorsements from Congressman Ron Paul and from the Republican Liberty Caucus. Kokesh's opponent in the New Mexico GOP primary was Tom Mullins.

Adam vs. The Man

Kokesh's talk radio program, Adam vs. The Man, was picked up by RT America in April 2011. Conservative media watchdog Accuracy in Media criticized Kokesh's appearances on RT, which is a non-profit organization largely funded by the Russian government. The group claimed that RT uses Americans like Kokesh to make propaganda points. David Weigel writes that Kokesh defended RT's "propaganda" function, saying "We're putting out the truth that no one else wants to say. I mean, if you want to put it in the worst possible abstract, it's the Russian government, which is a competing protection racket against the other governments of the world, going against the United States and calling them on their bullshit."

On a June 2011 show, Kokesh endorsed support and fundraising for Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign, leading to a complaint to the Federal Election Commission charging a political contribution had been made by a foreign corporation. Kokesh denied his cancellation in August was related to the complaint.

Kokesh has continued his Adam vs. The Man podcasts and video reports independently on his website and YouTube channel, notably admitting he "got fired from my only radio and TV gigs." On the channel he has filed some critical reports of the "Occupy DC" version of the Occupy movement.