Jan. 6 Rally Organizer Ali Alexander Reappears And Urges Followers To ‘Gather Together Once Again To Fight’ - Forbes

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Topline

Ali Alexander, a long-time right-wing provocateur and organizer of Stop the Steal, one of the groups behind the rally preceding the January 6 Capitol riot, reappeared after staying out of the spotlight to urge supporters to join together to fight “once again” in a video announcing his return to political activism.

Key Facts

Alexander, who is reportedly among those the FBI is investigating for a possible connection to the Capitol rioters, has mostly remained out of the spotlight since January, when he was instrumental in organizing the rally to overturn the election.

In a video posted to his Telegram account Monday, Alexander promised to "return” to political activity “soon,” and urged his followers to “gather together once again to fight, as the remnant, for our republic.”

Alexander said he was planning to schedule a “meet up” within the “next 7-14 days,” without specifying what he meant.

The video comes weeks after Alexander promoted a rally at the Georgia Capitol in May that was pushing for an audit of the state’s election results.

Key Background

Alexander, 35, was one of several right-wing personalities instrumental in spreading election misinformation and organizing radical pro-Trump protesters online in the weeks leading up to January 6. The FBI is probing Alexander, along with ex-Trump political advisor Roger Stone and right-wing talk show host Alex Jones, for potential ties to those “physically involved in the attack on the Capitol,” according to an anonymous U.S. official who spoke to the Washington Post in February. In December, Alexander claimed in several livestreams he was conspiring with Reps. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) to develop a plan to put “maximum pressure on Congress” as they voted to certify President Joe Biden’s win (all three Republicans have denied Alexander’s claim). That same month, he said he was willing to give his “life” for former President Donald Trump’s election fraud crusade in a message that was retweeted by the Arizona Republican Party’s Twitter account. On January 5, one day before the riot, Alexander led a crowd of Trump supporters in a “victory, or death” chant. At 4:30 p.m. on January 6, about two hours before the riot, Alexander posted a video of himself overlooking a crowd surrounding the Capitol building saying he does not “denounce this.” After the attack, Alexander claimed he did not condone infiltrating the Capitol.

Surprising Fact

“If D.C. escalates… so do we,” Alexander wrote on Parler the week before the riot, according to a post unearthed by ProPublica.

Crucial Quote

Alexander, who enjoyed a sizable following online, was kicked off of all major social media outlets after the January 6 riot. “I’ve been licking my wounds, but I’ve been plotting. I’ve been planning. I’ve been scheming,” Alexander said in February on Trovo, a gaming platform. “Because we have to do away with this whole system.”

Tangent

Before getting involved with “Stop the Steal,” Alexander gained a social media following as a conservative commentator who worked with other right-wing personalities such as Jones, Stone, Jacob Wohl, and Laura Loomer. He was a promoter of the “Birther” conspiracy theory, a movement that falsely claimed former President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. and was therefore not a citizen. Later, he criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, who has a Jamaican father, for calling herself Black.