My friend Kade was arrested on June 6, 2025, in Los Angeles, protesting against ICE's anti-immigration policies outside the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC). He was charged with assaulting a federal officer, but ultimately the evidence proved that Kade committed no violence or harm.

Nevertheless, the extreme charges created a heavy blow. Kade spent four days in the MDC, which was particularly difficult for him because he has autism and Tourette’s syndrome (both diagnosed when he was 6). He wasn’t even allowed to make a phone call. His parents had to hire an attorney to secure his release and defend him in court.

The prosecution first charged Kade with a felony, arguing for an 8- to 10-year prison sentence and a $40,000 fine. He was terrified for two reasons: 1) prison is extremely dangerous for people with even just one of his two diagnoses and 2) a felony conviction could prevent him from working for a film studio ever again, the dream he worked toward since first grade. To avoid those daunting risks, he chose to plead guilty to a misdemeanor.

As was happening nationally in these cases, the federal prosecutors still sought the highest penalty: an 8- 12 month federal prison sentence and a $20,000 fine.

In all, Kade experienced nearly 8 months stressing about what the outcome would be, especially since the prosecutor had attached a special “violence” penalty against him.

However, after examining all the facts, the federal judge assigned to Kade’s case concluded that Kade

The judge sentenced Kade to “time served” and a $1000 fine, and court costs of $100. 

Although this was ultimately, and thankfully, a positive outcome, this event caused great emotional and financial turmoil for Kade (who is currently unemployed) and his parents. They had to spend over $26,000 on his legal defense. Kade and his parents are not wealthy. His parents (a mother, 65, who has two cancer syndromes that consistently cause high financial burdens and intimidating diagnoses, and a father, 62, who is a US Army veteran, disabled, and on a fixed income) had to leverage $25,000 from their limited retirement funds to cover these costs.

If you could contribute to this GoFundMe so as to reduce their economic hardship, we would greatly appreciate it. Any amount that you can contribute would be helpful.