The leader of a self-described “nonviolent, antifascist collective” that has spearheaded several anti-Trump and anti-Israel protests in Washington, D.C., was arrested this month for allegedly striking a U.S. Park Police (USPP) officer, according to court records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
The arrest of For Liberation and Resistance Everywhere (FLARE) organizer Jacob E. Adams appears to undercut FLARE’s attempts to brand its protests as “nonviolent.” The group’s website says its “mission is to fight the rise of fascism in the United States by sustaining a 24/7 nonviolent occupation in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol.” It is also a black eye for the fledgling group, which has slowly grown to prominence in D.C. activist circles in the months since it initiated a continuous 24-hour sit-in protest in front of Union Station on May 1, 2025.
Adams and other activists founded the group in an effort to force the impeachment of President Donald Trump. Since then, the group has hosted speakers like Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) at its Union Station encampment and has expanded its footprint to include disruptive “direct action” protests at White House budget director Russell Vought’s home, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s church, Fox News, and the Heritage Foundation. The group’s protests mainly involve activists screaming obscenities and making loud noises.
FLARE also had a presence at the recent “No Kings” protest in D.C. and has partnered with well-funded and well-connected progressive activist groups, though it has also raised $46,441 through a GoFundMe account Adams created. And it has conducted anti-Israel protests and joined forces with extremist groups like CODEPINK and the Palestinian Youth Movement.
The incident that led to Adams’s arrest occurred in late August near FLARE’s Union Station encampment, according to court records. Adams allegedly hit Sgt. Chad Gordon, a USPP officer tasked with creating a protective perimeter around an area where two protestors had defaced federal government property. Adams, the records show, ignored Gordon’s commands to “back up” after he approached other officers whose backs were turned, leading to the altercation.
“I extended my arm towards Adams to stop his forward momentum,” Gordon wrote in an affidavit filed this month with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. “Adams immediately swung his left arm in an aggressive manner towards me, striking my hand/arm. Adams looked at me, pointed at me with his left index finger, and stated, ‘get your fucking hands off me.'”
“Adams shouted, ‘you told me to back up, fuck you!'” Gordon continued. Gordon noted that his body camera recorded the exchange, and his affidavit included images from that footage.
Gordon wrote that officers on the scene made a determination not to immediately arrest Adams in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. Police, however, executed an arrest warrant for Adams on Oct. 13. He was then arraigned and charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer, a misdemeanor that carries a prison sentence of up to six months. The case remains ongoing.
The incident appears to contradict Adams’s statements to the media after the National Park Service temporarily revoked FLARE’s permit to protest outside Union Station. In its notice to the group, the agency explained that it took the action because Adams “personally assaulted a USPP officer.” Adams, though, denied the allegations in a statement to the Washingtonian and, days before his arrest, told the Spirit of Jefferson that he had not been arrested and a warrant wasn’t presented to him.
“If one of our members assaulted a police officer, they would either be hurt or in jail,” another FLARE leader told the Spirit of Jefferson. “And they wouldn’t be allowed back out there. I don’t know where that’s coming from, but nobody has been arrested or threatened with that.”
FLARE, meanwhile, has become more visible in D.C. In one instance, a FLARE protestor told Vice President J.D. Vance that he looked like a “constipated rodent.” During the protest at Hegseth’s church, participants yelled at young families arriving for Sunday service. At their weekly Heritage Foundation protests, FLARE activists regularly call individuals leaving the building “Nazis.”
During FLARE’s protest at Vought’s home this month, Adams knocked on his door and spoke into his video doorbell, according to video of the protest. “Russel Vought, we know who you are, we know what you’re doing to America. It’s time to knock that shit off. America’s pissed. We are coming for you to demand accountability, nonviolently,” he said.
In addition, earlier this month, FLARE organized a protest outside the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s headquarters to “demand an end to genocide in Palestine.” They then directed participants to join a “From the Sea to D.C., Until Palestine is Free” protest in front of the “embassy of apartheid Israel,” which was organized by CODEPINK and the Palestinian Youth Movement.
FLARE leaders also attended an anti-Israel protest steps away from the group’s Union Station encampment in August, according to social media posts. The protest featured several images showing the Israeli flag smeared in blood with the words, “Israel kills.” It also featured remarks from activist Hazami Barmada, an anti-Israel activist who harassed former secretary of state Antony Blinken’s three-and four-year-old children outside their home last year over the Biden administration’s actions related to the Gaza war, Politico reported at the time.
