The leader of the Washington chapter of the violent pro-communist group Antifa has been arrested on 17 charges stemming from an attack on two Marines.
Joseph “Jose” Alcoff faces charges that include aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation, conspiracy, making terroristic threats, and robbery while inflicting serious bodily injury,
The Daily Caller reported, based on an affidavit filed in the case.
Alcoff, also known as “Chepe,” was part of a group of 10 to 12 Antifa members who attacked Marines Alejandro Godinez and Luis Torres
on Nov. 17. while the two were sightseeing in Philadelphia. Antifa member Tom Keenan approached the two and asked whether they belonged to a nearby protest of the right-wing fraternal group Proud Boys, Godinez and Torres
testified in December.
“Are you proud?” Keenan asked Godinez, to which the Marine replied, “We are Marines.” Keenan then asked them, “Are you Proud Boys?” upon which the mob surrounded them and started to beat them.
The Marines recalled being called “Nazis” and “white supremacists.” Godinez tried to counter, shouting “I’m Mexican,” to which the attackers responded by calling him a “spic” and a “wetback.”
Torres was able to get pictures of the attackers and gave them to police. Investigators said in the affidavit they “strongly agree” Alcoff was in the photos.
Antifa is a
pro-communist group that openly advocates violence and has led assaults on conservatives, reporters, and law enforcement, among others. Members typically attend left-leaning protests dressed in black while obscuring their faces with masks. According to documents obtained
by Politico, Homeland Security officials deem Antifa activities “domestic terrorist violence.”
The Daily Caller ran an expose on Alcoff in December, revealing his multiple personas. Under his real name, as well as pseudonym Jose Martin, he has played the role of an activist quoted in
a 2018 press release by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and has been featured in legacy media such as
Rolling Stone,
BBC radio, and
MSNBC. But under the pseudonym “Chepe” and his Twitter handle @sabokitty,
he has openly identified as a communist and advocated killing rich people and police, overthrowing capitalism, and expressed a desire to “destroy the United States from within.”
The report identified Alcoff as an organizer of Smash Racism DC, the Antifa group that organized the harassment of the family of Fox News host Tucker Carlson in November.
