For All is a protest group that employs civil disobedience in support of left-leaning causes. Its founder and president is involved with several Occupy movement-inspired groups and has been arrested at several of his organizations’ protests.

Background

For All was founded in Arizona by Noah Kai Newkirk, a left-wing activist linked to multiple Occupy movement-inspired protest groups. Newkirk, whose efforts have been frequently featured in the radical-left website Occupy.com, was also a mission director for 99Rise and a co-founder of Democracy Spring. ^{1 2}

In 2021, For All added Coby Owens as a director. Owens is a Vice Chair of the Delaware Democratic Party who requested that President Joseph Biden declare a “climate emergency” at a joint “Occupy Biden” protest with a local branch of the radical-left Extinction Rebellion group. ^{3 4 5}

For All also added Latchmi Gopal as a director in 2021. Gopal is a Bronx, New York activist and unsuccessful 2021 city council candidate who ran on a platform of defunding the police, passing a “Green New Deal” for New York, and reversing “environmental racism surrounding interstate highways.” Gopal also took part in a protest against CPAC in 2022 by unfurling a “Protect our rights” banner over the doorway of the venue. ^{6 7 8}

Activities

From 2020 to 2022, For All held protest events to pressure Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) to end the filibuster and advance Democratic Party legislation. For All also co-founded the Arizona Coalition to End the Filibuster, the West Virginia Coalition to End the Filibuster, and the Sinema Primary Pledge. The Sinema Primary Pledge campaign claimed that Sen. Sinema had taken “the side of Bull Connor and George Wallace over that of John Lewis and MLK” and pledged all donations to funding a primary challenger to replace Sinema. ^{9 10}

For All organized multiple protests against Sen. Sinema, including a sit-in at her office in Phoenix. Ten people were arrested at the event after ignoring police requests to disperse, including For All president Noah Kai Newkirk. All arrested individuals were given a citation and immediately released. ¹¹

The organization also carried out marches and street blockades to raise awareness for their anti-filibuster campaign and claimed credit for pressuring Senators Sinema and Manchin to pass the “deeply-compromised but still historic climate, tax justice, and health care measures of the Inflation Reduction Act.” ¹²

Founder Arrests

For All founder and president Noah Kai Newkirk’s tactics gained widespread media attention when he was arrested for an unlawful protest in the Supreme Court during a patent case in 2014. Newkirk and his group were protesting the Citizens United ruling. The website Occupy.com claims that Newkirk was also taken into police custody at a 2016 protest supporting the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in Philadelphia. ^{13 14}

Newkirk pled guilty to a misdemeanor offense for his Supreme Court protest and was released after being sentenced to time served (one night in jail) under the condition that he stay away from the Supreme Court grounds for one year. ¹⁵

Before his arrest at a 2021 protest at the Phoenix office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Newkirk told local media, “I’m here because everything that I care about that we need in this country, so much change for the people, is being blocked by the filibuster, from voting rights, to the DREAM Act, to raising the minimum wage, and so much more.” ¹⁶

1. Kai Newkirk. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.kainewkirk.org/.
2. “Search.” Occupy.com. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.occupy.com/search/node/newkirk.
3. Tuhus, Melinda. “Occupy Biden Protest Encampment Calls on President to ‘Declare a Climate Emergency.’” BTL. January 8, 2022. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://btlonline.org/occupy-biden-protest-encampment-calls-on-president-to-declare-a-climate-emergency/.
4. “State Party Leadership.” Delaware Dems. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.deldems.org/about/state-party-leadership.
5. “Officer/Director/Shareholder Change.” Arizona Corporations Commission. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://ecorp.azcc.gov/CommonHelper/GetFilingDocuments?barcode=21031019586108.
6. “Officer/Director/Shareholder Change.” Arizona Corporations Commission. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://ecorp.azcc.gov/CommonHelper/GetFilingDocuments?barcode=21031019586108.
7. “Our Platform.” Latchmi Gopal for the Bronx. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://gopalforthebronx.org/our-platform/.
8. Gopal, Latchmi. Twitter. August 4, 2022. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://twitter.com/LatchmiGopal/status/1555298727643987974?s=20
9. “Replace Sinema with a Democrat Who Will End the Filibuster.” Crowdpac. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.crowdpac.com/campaigns/404047/replace-sinema-with-a-democrat-who-will-end-the-filibuster.
10. “About.” For All. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.forallorg.us/about.
11. Stone, Kevin. “10 Arrested during Anti-Filibuster Protest at Sen. Sinema’s Phoenix Office.” KTAR.com. June 22, 2021. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://ktar.com/story/4515197/10-arrested-during-anti-filibuster-protest-at-sen-sinemas-phoenix-office/.
12. “About.” For All. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.forallorg.us/about.
13. Hurley, Lawrence, and Joan Biskupic. “Unauthorized Video of U.S. Supreme Court Protest Posted Online.” Reuters. February 28, 2014. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-video-idUSBREA1Q2AD20140228.
14. Fowler, William. “Protesters for Bernie, Campaign Finance Reform, Immigrant Rights Swarm DNC Convention.” Occupy.com. July 26, 2016. https://www.occupy.com/article/protesters-bernie-campaign-finance-reform-immigrant-rights-swarm-dnc-convention#sthash.p9UXby1R.dpbs.
15. Hurley, Lawrence. “Man in Videotaped Protest inside Supreme Court Pleads Guilty.” Reuters. April 15, 2014. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-protester/man-in-videotaped-protest-inside-supreme-court-pleads-guilty-idUSBREA3E1SR20140415.
16. Stone, Kevin. “10 Arrested during Anti-Filibuster Protest at Sen. Sinema’s Phoenix Office.” KTAR.com. June 22, 2021. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://ktar.com/story/4515197/10-arrested-during-anti-filibuster-protest-at-sen-sinemas-phoenix-office/.