Law Firm Tied to Far-Right Fringe Registers Stop the Steal LLC in Alabama
A law firm associated with activists on the far-right fringe registered the Limited Liability Company (LLC) Stop the Steal in Montgomery, Alabama, in November, . 鈥淪top the Steal鈥� is the name of a nationwide protest movement focused on overturning President-elect Joe Biden鈥檚 win in the 2020 election based upon unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
George Coleman of the law firm Baron Coleman registered the Stop the Steal LLC in Montgomery on Nov. 13. Far-right activist Ali Alexander, 35, the self-described 鈥淣ational Organizer鈥� for the Stop the Steal, told Hatewatch over text that Baron Coleman represents him. Alexander promoted Stop the Steal events to Twitter soon after it became apparent that Trump lost the 2020 election and has done so persistently ever since. Baron Coleman registered the LLC one day before protesters associated with Ali鈥檚 Stop the Steal movement descended on Washington D.C. The event gave way to between Stop the Steal supporters and counterprotesters.
Hatewatch has so far been unable to determine what the LLC does, but it borrows from a brand name first associated with Roger Stone Jr. A former adviser to Donald Trump and , Stone first launched Stop the Steal during the 2016 election as a group of poll watchers tasked with disputing Democratic votes in urban, multiracial areas. Like the current iteration of Stop the Steal, Stone gathered the group together under the auspices of fighting voter fraud, as Hatewatch has reported. Hatewatch reached out to Stone by phone and email, but he did not respond.
Baron Coleman also represents Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes in his against Southern Poverty Law Center, which is based upon its designation of them as a hate group. Alexander and lawyers for Baron Coleman appeared with McInnes outside the center鈥檚 headquarters in Montgomery on Feb. 4, 2019, when he announced that suit. Alexander told Hatewatch over text that Baron Coleman advised him in responding to Hatewatch鈥檚 request for comment.
鈥淸Baron Coleman] advised me to tell you not to contact me while I鈥檓 representing a client suing y鈥檃ll. Conflict of interest. Thanks!鈥� Alexander wrote.
Alexander does not appear to be an attorney, so it is unclear what he meant by representing. Alexander is a far-right operative linked to a number of political smear campaigns and is known for posting disinformation to Twitter. One example of that behavior includes he created promoting the unsubstantiated claim that Biden is 鈥渟ick鈥� and suffers from some form of otherwise unreported, degenerative illness. Mother Jones reported that Alexander is . Hatewatch showing Alexander entered a guilty plea on charges of 鈥渄ebit card abuse鈥� in Tarrant County, Texas, in April 2008. He went by the name 鈥淎li Akbar鈥� at that time.
Hatewatch followed up with another text, but Alexander did not respond. Hatewatch was therefore unable to ask him about the LLC.
Baron Coleman sent Hatewatch the following comment:
I received your request for comment and don鈥檛 have much I can add. As you know any conversations between my clients and me are privileged.
Stop the Steal, LLC, is an Alabama limited liability company I organized for clients of mine. I鈥檓 afraid I鈥檓 limited by my professional duties to defer to my clients 鈥� owners of the privilege 鈥� on whether they would like to add anything more.
I appreciate you reaching out. If you can think of anything else I can help you with, please don鈥檛 hesitate to contact me at your convenience. I鈥檒l do my best to answer anything that isn鈥檛 privileged.
Sincerely,
Baron Coleman
Stone appeared with Alexander in the about Stop the Steal activism, which was published to Twitter on Dec. 9. The trailer also featured an appearance by white nationalist live-streamer Nick Fuentes and anti-immigrant pundit and VDARE contributor Michelle Malkin, among other activists who are promoting the falsehood that Trump won the 2020 election. Proud Boys have also turned up at Alexander鈥檚 events. At a Stop the Steal-linked event on Dec. 12, members of the hate group reportedly took down two Black Lives Matter banners from two historic Black churches in Washington, D.C., and destroyed them. The Washington Post that police were investigating the incidents on hate crime charges.
