From the night of the protest.
From the night of the protest. Sean Nelson

On the evening of Donald Trump's inauguration, anti-fascist demonstrator Josh Dukes was shot in the abdomen while protesting an appearance by the now-reviled hate speech advocate Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of Washington. His shooter was recently revealed to be Elizabeth Hokoana, who claimed she fired the gun to protect her husband, Marc, "from imminent death or serious injury," The Seattle Times reported.

Two months later, Dukes, who also uses the alias "Hex," has since been released from the hospital. He and his partner, Sasha, told The Guardian that they don't want Hokoana to see any jail time for the attack. Dukes put it this way: “I refuse not to recognize these people as people, because I refuse to be like them.”

Having seen the damage that comes from forcibly removing a person from his friends and family, they don’t want to inflict it on anyone else.

“Shooting me or someone else cuts off all the things I could do with my life, my job, my relationships,” said Dukes. “Prison does something similar.”

As it stands, their offer of restorative justice has been rejected. “We agree that a restorative justice process could be helpful to both Mr Dukes and the Hokoanas. But while this is an open investigation and the state has the power to file charges, despite Mr Dukes’ wishes, Elizabeth and Marc are not able to participate,” said Kim Gordon and Steve Wells, attorneys for the couple, in a joint statement.

The Hokoanas' attorneys told Guardian reporter Julia Carrie Wong that they believe a jury would determine that Elizabeth "reasonably" reacted because her husband was in danger.

Take the time to read the whole piece and understand why Dukes and Sasha are seeking restorative justice, rather than imprisonment.


South Seattle Emerald reporter Kelsey Hamlin also spoke with Sasha, who requested their last name not be used, about the aftermath of the shooting.

“I’m not the one who did that harm. SPD, UWPD, the administration, they’re the ones that need to see that. I’m tired of carrying this by myself. I want people to see. I want them to see what right-wing violence looks like. I want the College Republicans to see what happens at their event that they insisted upon having.”