Perennial Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein faces an arrest warrant in Missouri after neither she nor her attorney appeared at a hearing Monday morning related to misdemeanor charges for the alleged assault of a bicycle cop at Washington University more than two years ago.
The charges stem from an April 2024 protest at the university over the war in Gaza. More than 100 people were arrested as police broke up the protest, though only Stein and one other individual wound up being charged. Stein faced misdemeanors for assault and trespass, charges that were issued the following March.
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According to media reports at the time, police accused Stein of grabbing the bicycle of one officer and kicking another officer multiple times.
The two-year-old case had a hearing Monday at 9 a.m. The court filing setting the hearing noted, “All counsel and parties, including defendant, shall appear in person.” Prosecutors showed up. Neither Stein nor her attorney Joseph Welch did.
On Monday morning, Circuit Court Judge Karma Johnson noted the absence of Welch and Stein. “There will be a failure to appear warrant for Ms. Stein,” she said.
The prosecutors handling the case noted that their office was not asking for a warrant.
Johnson indicated she understood that position, but wasn’t going to change her mind.
Stein, 76, is a self-described “eco-socialist” who ran for president as the Green Party nominee in 2012, 2016, and 2024. She drew ire from Democrats for that 2016 run, which was widely seen as spoiling the election in favor of Donald Trump. More recently, Stein found support among the far-left for her early and outspoken stance against Israel amid the war in Gaza.
The warrant is unlikely to have any practical immediate effect on her, so long as she is not in Missouri.
Welch, her attorney, declined comment.
The case against Stein originated in St. Louis County Circuit Court, though it was later transferred to the city when it came to light that the alleged assault occurred on a portion of the campus on the other side of the city/county line. St. Louis County prosecutors continue to handle the case.
Charges against the other protestor, however, appear to have been dropped. Jeron Hicks, who was 24 when he was first charged, also faced allegations of assaulting a police officer.
But his attorney, Brendan Roediger, argued that WashU police officers are in fact not police officers, an argument the university itself had advanced many times in unrelated litigation. Because the student was charged with assaulting a police officer, Roediger argued that it mattered greatly that WashU campus police officers are not police officers under Missouri law.
That case against Hicks is no longer findable among public court filings, suggesting the charges have been dropped. Roediger did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment; we’ll update this post if we hear back.
UPDATE: The warrant for Jill Stein’s arrest was withdrawn several hours after it was issued. However, it appears as though Stein is likely to be in court in St. Louis in about a month.
After failing to appear at the Monday morning hearing, Stein’s lawyer, Joseph Welsh, appeared in Judge Karma Johnson’s courtroom that afternoon. There, Judge Johnson granted his motion to quash the warrant for arrest.
The judge then continued the case until September 14. That continuance states that all parties, including Stein, need to be in court in person. The judge’s order states that, “Warrant to issue if Defendant fails to appear.”
