Filed May 2, 2025 | Southern District of New York
On Friday, we filed a federal lawsuit against the City of New York, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and the New York Post for their role in a coordinated campaign to smear, censor, and dismantle Comrade Workwear and the political art we create.
This lawsuit is about more than one artist, one project, or one company. It’s about the right to dissent without being silenced. It’s about the right to criticize the powerful without being labeled a threat. And it’s about holding those in power accountable for using state force and media manipulation to punish political expression.
What We’re Fighting
The Most Wanted CEOs deck was a satirical project—modeled after the U.S. military’s “most wanted” playing cards—intended to educate the public about corporate harm across industries: Big Pharma, private equity housing, Big Tech, fossil fuels, and weapons manufacturers. It used QR codes linking to publicly available reporting, and it came with a disclaimer: For educational and entertainment purposes only.
But within 24 hours of launch, the NY Post published a hit piece falsely claiming the project called for violence, deliberately removing context to portray symbolic speech as a literal threat. The next morning, the NYPD showed up. One day after that, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch held a press conference, held up the NY Post article, and publicly called the cards a “hit list.” She described me—by name—as part of a “lawless, violent mob” calling for “targeted assassination.”
From that moment, everything began to collapse. Instagram banned my account. Then TikTok. Then PayPal. Shopify followed. Apple Pay. YouTube. Every tool I used to speak, sell, and survive was systematically stripped away. I was never given a specific reason—just vague notices about “reputational risk.”
On February 20, NYPD officers executed a seizure of my entire card shipment at FedEx. No notice. No warrant copy. No way to challenge it. Just gone.
The result? $127,000 in lost revenue, refunded orders, and stolen inventory in less than three weeks. Years of work and organizing, wiped out.
What the Lawsuit Says
The lawsuit includes multiple causes of action, including:
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First Amendment Retaliation: Punishing protected political speech by misrepresenting it as violent and dangerous.
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Fourteenth Amendment Violation (Stigma Plus): Defaming me in an official capacity, leading to reputational and economic harm.
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Defamation: False and malicious claims by the NY Post and Tisch that knowingly mischaracterized my work.
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Tortious Interference: Destroying my ability to do business by pressuring platforms to cut ties.
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Abuse of Process and Conversion: Illegally seizing and never returning property with no due process.
Read the full lawsuit here (LINK TO A PDF OF THE FULL LAWSUIT)
We’re demanding compensatory and punitive damages.
But this lawsuit isn’t just about restitution.
It’s about exposing a chilling pattern of repression—where art that challenges power is treated as a threat to the state.
We Need Your Help
We’ll keep you updated every step of the way as this case unfolds.
If you’re connected to anyone in media who would report on this story, please reach out.
We want as many eyes on this as possible. This fight is bigger than one artist—it’s about defending our collective right to criticize, create, and resist.
📩 Press inquiries or tips? Contact us at contact@means.media
Thank you for standing with us. We will not back down.
— James Harr | Comrade Workwear