Vishal P. Singh
Does the Leave Our Kids Alone movement really care about protecting kids? Fascist brawler Adam Michael Kiefer was one of the many Leave Our Kids Alone supporters wearing the signature branded t-shirt at Tuesday's large anti-LGBTQ+ rally in downtown Los Angeles. Kiefer is mostly notorious for menacing journalists, marching in uniform with the white supremacist fascist group the Proud Boys, and storming the United States Capitol on January 6th. He even admitted to his participation in the January 6th Capitol riot in court. But in the wake of his regular participation in Leave Our Kids Alone, a far-right anti-LGBTQ+ movement alleging to merely advocate for parental rights and protecting children— it's worth emphasizing Kiefer's criminal past.
This Proud Boy wearing a Leave Our Kids Alone shirt was arrested and convicted in 2012 for "battery on spouse/cohabitating/noncohab/former spouse/etc, false imprisonment, interference with a wireless communication, and willful cruelty to child." Kiefer has been present at all of the major Leave Our Kids Alone rallies in Southern California— regularly showing up with fellow members of the Proud Boys. Organizers with Leave Our Kids Alone were spotted driving with Kiefer and, in a leaked video, admitted to knowingly working alongside the Proud Boys. Leave Our Kids Alone is pushing anti-LGBTQ+ hate that will cause harm to children. They push back against this sentiment, but the truth of the matter is one of their most prominent supporters happens to have already been convicted on willful cruelty to a child charges. Indeed, willful cruelty to children is not just a charge from Kiefer's criminal history: it's the obvious goal of the entire Leave Our Kids Alone movement.
