Far-right activist Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman, who is on probation in California for possession of a lead stick during a Donald Trump rally in 2017, has been arrested in Boise.
Chapman, 46, was arrested Tuesday by Boise Police for battery against healthcare workers, a crime, according to court records. He was being held on $ 10,000 bond at the Ada County Jail on Wednesday.
The former Bay Area resident has moved to Boise in recent years, according to several articles by Chapman and a local Twitter page which highlights right-wing extremism in Idaho.
Chapman rose to prominence within the right-wing movement after he was recorded on video beating counter-protesters with a lead weighted stick at the March 2017 rally in Berkeley, Calif., which was part of nationwide protests in support of then-President Donald Trump. He went on to found the Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights, or FOAK, which the American Civil Liberties Union classifies as a hate group.
FOAK was created as a paramilitary arm of the far-right Proud Boys. The Proud Boys are classified as a hate group by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, which claim the group espouses xenophobic views, including white nationalism and anti-Semitism. The group describes itself as “western chauvinists”.
Since the formation of FOAK, Chapman has lost his leadership role, according to several media. In November 2020, he attempted to take control of the Proud Boys and make them an explicitly white supremacist and anti-Semitic organization, but the coup failed.
Chapman was due to be arraigned on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in Ada County Magistrate’s Court.
Chapman’s past accusations
Chapman has been arrested and convicted multiple times in California and Texas on charges of robbery, robbery and assault, according to multiple media.
In 1993, he was convicted of robbery in Texas. In 2001, he was convicted of robbery in San Diego County.
He did not plead any challenge in 2019 in the lead stick incident and was placed on probation until September 2024. A plea of no contest means that an accused does not admit his guilt but accepts the punishment that a guilty plea might impose.
In April 2017, a month after the baton incident, Chapman was arrested again for allegedly fighting two people in Berkeley while filming a promotional video, according to local media Berkeleyside.
In December 2017, he was arrested in California for driving an off-road vehicle and disorderly driving, where officers discovered he had a kubotan, a keychain weapon, in violation of the judge’s order in his March rally charges. Chapman’s bail was increased from $ 135,000 to $ 400,000 at the request of prosecutors.
Chapman pleaded guilty to two counts, two misdemeanors, and was sentenced to one year of probation and a $ 500 fine or community service.
In 2018, Chapman pleaded guilty in Texas to aggravated assault after a bar fight in Austin in July 2017, according to SF Gate. Chapman traveled to Lone Star State to attend a “Texans for American Freedom” rally. He was sentenced to three years probation, a $ 10,000 fine, and anger management courses.
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