Jesse Cannon is a militant anti-fascist serving a five-year sentence for two separate cases. The first relates to the defense of his community against far-right and white supremacist groups. The second relates to Cannon’s alleged defense of his community from another credible outside threat to the safety of park attendees during an event at which elders and multiple families with children were present.  

Cannon is a hip-hop artist, writer, and photographer who goes by the name “Tall Can” or “T.C.” He is also a long-time community activist, anarchist, and park defender. In recent years he has been involved in the campaign to push back white supremacist’s encroachment into Barrio Logan, a predominantly Latino area of so-called San Diego, occupied Kumeyaay land, and to protect Chicano Park, a historical landmark that represents generations of political struggle for the Chicano movement. It also has the largest concentration of Chicano murals in the world. In recent years, it has been the target of the American Guard, Proud Boys, and another white supremacist group by the name of Border Town Patriots. They have gone to the park with the goal of antagonizing or attacking the local community, which has been able to mobilize in opposition to their presence. Patriot March    On January 9, 2021, three days after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, the former president’s supporters in California organized a “patriot’s march” in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego. Groups organizing the march included the American Guard, Proud Boys, and another local right-wing racist group called Defend East County.    

Local community activists and anti-fascists groups organized a counter protest. For several hours the two sides clashed with one another. Police attempted to separate the opposing sides but focused their brutality on the anti-racist protesters. After nearly seven hours of protests and street brawls, the area was eventually cleared. Local government, media, and right-wing activists placed the blame for the incident on the “Antifa Movement.”   

On December 6, 2021, after a grand jury hearing, the San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan announced the indictment of eleven anti-fascist activists on 29 felony counts, relating to the incident in earlier in the year. The indictment stated that 15 to 20 members of Antifa from San Diego and Los Angeles organized and executed acts of violence against participants of the Patriot March rally. The Antifa activists allegedly used rocks, glass, mace, sticks and other weapons to assault at least 16 victims. The indictment stated that a criminal conspiracy began with individuals liking and sharing social media posts that called for a counter-protest against the pro-Trump rally. Others allegedly entered into a conspiracy by showing up to participate in the anti-racist protest and engaging in violent actions.    

Cannon was one of the indicted and was charged with felony conspiracy, felony assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. The indictment also pointed out that Cannon was out on bail for a prior case for his role in community activism.  Political Persecution   

After the indictment was announced, community organizers vocalized their outrage over the one-sided prosecution. Even though both sides engaged in the clash on January 9, 2021, the District Attorney chose to only prosecute those who were labeled as members of “Antifa”. Numerous individuals, who were victims of unprovoked assaults perpetrated by members of the American Guard and Proud Boys, witnessed the District Attorney turn a blind toward these attacks. 

The DA also failed to inform both the grand jury and the defense witnesses for the eleven defendants that many of those who were labeled as “victims” were members of the American Guard and were aggressors during the conflict. While the DA’s office went to great efforts to hunt down the alleged “victims of Antifa,” they avoided interviews with numerous victims of the right-wing extremists because that would undermine the DA’s agenda. 

 San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan’s action should be of no surprise since she previously built her entire election campaign for her position on fearmongering against Antifa and George Soros. In 2018, Stephan used images of black bloc with Antifa flags with captions such as “San Diego Public Safety is Under Attack” as part of her campaign for election. Her campaign also accused her opponent of being supported by George Soros, the Jewish philanthropist who is often used by the far-right in their coded antisemitic rhetoric While Stephan had no problem villainizing Antifa or George Soros in order to further her campaign, it also seemed like she had no problems taking money from white supremacist or using her position to protect them from prosecution.     

One of those who donated to Stephan’s campaign was San Diego Republican Party leader and self-described local Republican “king-maker,” Tony Krvaric. Weeks before the January 2021 incident, Krvaric tweeted that police should be focused on “Antifa terrorists.” It should be no surprise that Krvaric disliked anti-fascists. In 2020, a video surfaced of a young Krvaric and friends giving white power salutes, drawing swastikas on their bodies, with a photo of Hitler bouncing across the screen.

One of Krvaric’s sons, who was a reservist, was investigated by the Marines because of an application to the Patriot Front, another neo-Nazi group. His other son worked for Trump’s Office of Personnel Management, participated in the January 6 insurrection, and had profiles on neo-Nazi websites where he praised Hitler, backed deportation of non-white people, and expressed disgust of the LGBTQ+ population.     

This is not Stephan’s only connection to the local white supremacist community. In May 2018, just weeks after the DA launched her conspiracy campaign website, she accepted a campaign contribution from Kristopher Wyrick, the President of the Southern California chapter of the American Guard. Six months prior to the contribution, when Summer Stephan was acting as the interim DA, Wyrick and several other members of the American Guard assaulted several victims in a vicious attack. Despite numerous videos of the attack, the DA chose not to file charges against the white supremacists.    

This was not an isolated incident. In September 2020, members of the American Guard attacked racial justice protestors, including a man in a wheelchair. In July 2021, Wyrick and several other members of the American Guard attacked pro-Palestinian protesters during a rally, using weapons that included bear spray. Despite media reports documenting the incidents, the DA’s office yet again refused to prosecute.     In total, there are at least five documented incidents where Stephan’s office chose not to prosecute Wyrick and his American Guard for violent assaults. To add insult to injury, many of those individuals they chose not to prosecute, were the alleged victims in the January 9, 2021, incident and prosecution witnesses.  Plea and Sentencing   

In late 2023, Cannon was involved in another action in defense of his community against an outside threat that led to further charges, including alleged use of a deadly weapon, vandalism, brandishing a concealed firearm, and assault and battery. The mounting charges and potential sentencing enhancements led Cannon to make the decision to take a plea. In February of 2024, Jesse Cannon took a non-cooperating plea agreement where he received a two year sentence for the January 2021 case and three years for the additional charges from late 2023. In total, Cannon was sentenced to five years in state prison for defending his community against fascist and racist aggressors.