Kyle Chapman, the 41-year-old SF-based right-wing activist who showed up to a Berkeley rally in March in a bicycle helmet and gas mask, carrying a stick and a shield with an American flag on it forever endearing him to the alt-right and inspiring the meme Based Stickman has now been charged with a felony in Alameda County and could face a stiff (no pun) sentence in the state pen.
As the East Bay Express reports, the district attorney filed a charge of felony possession of a leaded stick against Chapman stemming from widely circulated photos and video from the March 4 rally that was one of the first in what is becoming a series of street skirmishes nationwide including the one in Charlottesville a week ago that claimed the life of one woman and two law enforcement officers.
Chapman was among 20 people arrested following an April 15 street battle in Berkeley, as there was already a warrant for his arrest related to the March 4 event. The Express writes that Chapmanwas "seen carrying a long baton into several fights [on March 4] and was filmed cracking the weapon over the heads of a masked antifa and other counter-demonstrators."
Because Chapman has two previous felonies on his record, this puts him in the three strikes category if he gets another conviction, as the Associated Press points out. And Chapman may not have access to a crowd-funded legal defense fund he started after Paypal last week decided to freeze the account he had with them.
Chapman, who today made a speaking appearance at the "free speech" rally in Boston, called these "trumped up bogus charges" in a Facebook post. He is scheduled to appear at the planned Patriot Prayer rally in San Francisco next Saturday.
We've made it out of the Boston Rally safe and sound. Thank you Boston PD Excellent job! Unlike Cville PD who stood down and caused violence pic.twitter.com/balL3y5nlp
— Based Stickman (@BasedStickMan_) August 19, 2017
This is compleat horse shit! SET UP! https://t.co/U1OAOjOpNR https://t.co/s34d08Ede5
— Based Stickman (@BasedStickMan_) August 18, 2017
Chapman's political views skew to the alt-right, and clearly he relished an opportunity to do battle with the antifa, however like Patriot Prayer organizer Joey Gibson he disowns white supremacy. (A post here on Altright.com shows Chapman posting to Facebook in March telling his brethren to "tone down the violence and racism talk," which upset up some of his white nationalist fans. Chapman considers himself an "American Nationalist" and said "I don't care about your race, religion, or sexual identity.")
An attorney working for Chapman has previously said he has "severe psychological problems."
Related: SF & Berkeley Mayors, Supervisors Seek Any Means To Halt Alt-Right Rallies
