Steven Chun
Overview
Steven Chun [Steven T. Chun] is a medical student who promoted violence, glorified suicide, expressed support for Hamas terrorists and was arrested after participating in an anti-Israel protest in 2024.Chun is also a far-left activist in Los Angeles, California. He has called for the destruction of America and Israel. He has also spread hatred of Israel and the police. He is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As of August 2024, according to a tip submitted to Canary Mission, Chun had been studying at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) School of Medicine, slated to graduate in 2027. On August 31, 2023, Chun participated [02:01:09] in UC San Diego Medical School’s “White Coat Ceremony” for the class of 2027.
As of September 2024, Chun’s X and Instagram bios said he was an activist with the pro-terror group J-Town Action と Solidarity (JAとS). The group says it is a “Grassroots collective dedicated to revolutionary organizing & building community power in Little Tokyo,” in Los Angeles. He had been an organizer with them since at least March 2022.
In March 2024, People’s City Council - Los Angeles (PCC), a local far-left activist group, posted on X that Chun was a “member” of their group. PCC is a pro-terror group that defines itself as an “Abolitionist, anti-capitalist & anti-imperialist collective amplifying voice of the ppl - direct action, public ed + community.”
On October 8, 2023, one day after Hamas murdered nearly 1,200 Israelis, Chun participated in a protest organized by the chapters of the pro-terror groups Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), according to a tip submitted to Canary Mission in July 2024.
As of September 2024, Chun’s LinkedIn said he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2021. He was a research intern at Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Clinic, from October 2019 through September 2021. The clinic is located in Los Angeles, California.
As of September 2024, Chun’s Twitter said he was located in Los Angeles, California.
Promoting Violence
Chun promoted violence in a 2024 Instagram post, according to a tip submitted to Canary Mission in August 2024.Chun’s Instagram post featured an image of a white man in a suit and tie, with a rat holding a knife to his throat. The caption said: “EXTERMINATE THE TRUE VERMIN / COPS / POLITICIANS / LANDLORDS / BOSSES.”
Glorifying Suicide
Chun reposted a February 26, 2024 X post from JAとS that said: “There is nothing ‘mentally unwell’ about sacrificing your life in the name of liberation.”Chun’s post honored deceased U.S. Air Force serviceman Aaron Bushnell who set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C, on February 25, 2024. As he self-immolated, he yelled “Free Palestine!” He committed suicide to protest Israel’s war against Hamas, launched after the October 7, 2023 terror attacks.
Many Palestinian civilians, including women and children, participated in and supported the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. In some cases, Gazans who worked in the targeted Israeli communities gave intelligence to Hamas on where to strike.
Support for Hamas Terrorists
Chun expressed support for Hamas terrorism in multiple 2023 and 2024 Instagram posts, according to a tip submitted to Canary Mission in August 2024.One of these Instagram posts was when Chun wrote on October 8, 2023: “We are watching decolonization and liberation in real-time. Within our lifetimes, the Israeli apartheid state will finally come to an end and Palestine will be free…ALL POWER TO THE PALESTINIAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS. PALESTINE WILL BE FREE BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY
…” Anti-Israel activists use the phrase “by any means necessary,” as one of multiple euphemisms for terrorist violence, including “resistance.”
One of Chun’s 2024 Instagram posts showed a man wearing a green hat with the Hamas flag inscription on the visor, carrying a child on his shoulders, holding a rifle and wearing a black-and-white keffiyeh on his head. The text next to the photo read: “EVERY CHILD HAS THE RIGHT TO GROW UP TO BE A RESISTANCE FIGHTER.”
Hamas is a designated terrorist organization founded in 1987 that is dedicated to destroying Israel and killing Jews. Since 2001, Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at Israel and on October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped over 200 hostages, including children and the elderly.
The same post that Chun shared had a second picture showing Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda wearing the red scarf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group. The caption said: “EVERY WOMAN HAS THE RIGHT TO BE A REVOLUTIONARY.” Chun has honored Owda in at least one other post.
The PFLP is dedicated to the violent destruction of Israel. It is designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the United States. The EU, Canada, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Australia and Israel also list it as a terror group due to its history of carrying out assassinations, suicide bombings, hijackings and multiple murders.
In the same post Chun shared that honored Hamas and the PFLP, a caption underneath the photos said: “ALL ARMED PALESTINIANS ARE INNOCENT. ALL UNARMED SETTLERS ARE GUILTY.”
One of Chun’s 2024 Instagram posts showed an August 2024 post on X featured a sign that said: “WHOEVER IS IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR CORPSES BUT NOT OUR ROCKETS IS A HYPOCRITE AND NOT ONE OF US / UNTIL VICTORY.”
Below the image, Chun wrote: “defending the land and the people from genocidal imperialists is always justified. By any means necessary.
.”The inverted red triangle is a symbol showing support for Hamas and Palestinian terrorism. It first appeared in propaganda videos produced by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, during its terror attacks of October 7, 2023. The symbol was used by Hamas to signify one of their Israeli targets.
Arrested at an Anti-Israel Rally
On March 22, 2024, PCC posted on Instagram about Chun being arrested at an anti-Israel protest outside the Oscars awards ceremony on March 10, 2024.The Instagram post said: “...Last week outside the Oscars, LAPD [Los Angeles Police Department] used their ‘crossbow’ tactic to violently arrest JAS/PCC member, Steven. The LAPD beat him, later changed the arrest to a ‘detention,’ then released him without bail. The pigs violate peoples’ rights and brutalize them like this on a regular basis…”
On March 21, 2024, the PCC posted on X: “Once they’ve snatched their target, the pigs will form a circle around the arrest team…It was at this point that [officers] Velasquez + Cardiel of [LAPD’s] Newton Division wrestled Steven to the ground & injured his face/head.” The post included two images of Chun with bruises and scrapes on his face.
On March 10, 2024, an X user posted: “Happening right now: a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the Cinerama Dome. Among other chants, ‘Oscars Oscars you can’t hide / we charge you with genocide.’”
A coalition of anti-Israel groups that included Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organized the protest.
On March 8, 2024, JVP posted on Instagram: “...The Oscars are coming up this Sunday…we will not be distracted by the entertainment industry…”
Calling for the Destruction of America and Israel
Chun called for Israel and America’s destruction in multiple Instagram posts in 2024, according to a tip submitted to Canary Mission in August 2024.One of Chun’s 2024 Instagram posts featured an image of an American flag on fire. He wrote the caption: “Death to every empire!!”
In one of Chun’s 2024 Instagram posts, he shared a photo of himself in Vietnam next to a destroyed tank on a concrete platform. Chun gestured to the camera with his middle finger. Chun wrote: “f**k amerikka. Death to imperialism. every colony will be free.”
The term “Amerikkka” uses the initials of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a way to demonize America as “fascist or racist.”
Chun reposted a November 22, 2023 post on X from JAとS that said: “...END the settler colonial project they call ‘Israel’.”
Chun reposted a November 4, 2023 post from JAとS on X that said: “The abolition of genocidal religious ethnostates is good, actually.” The post was linked to a post from another user that said: “I am sick of people making excuses for the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’. For as long as it is being used by some to mean to abolition of Israel, then there is no excuse for using it to mean something else…”
“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.
In May 15, 2022, Instagram post, Chun wrote: “#Nakba 74 protest with palestinianyouthmovement…to commemorate Year 74 of the ongoing Nakba in Palestine / Free Palestine. / End the Israeli apartheid state. / All power to all people resisting colonialism and imperialism across the globe.
.”The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
Among anti-Israel activists, the term “resistance” is a euphemism for terrorism and is used to glorify and encourage anti-Israel and anti-Semitic violence.
Hatred of Israel
Chun spread hatred of Israel in multiple Instagram posts in 2024, according to a tip submitted to Canary Mission in August 2024.One of Chun’s 2024 Instagram posts featured a flyer that read: "WE DON’T NEED ‘SAFETY’ – WE NEED TO ESCALATE! BREAK THE CHAINS OF COLONIALISM.” The flyer depicted a man wearing a keffiyeh who was gripping a chain with broken links. Text said “FREE GAZA” and the image showed bombs falling on buildings.
In another one of Chun’s 2024 Instagram posts, he wrote: “04.26.24 – 04.29.24 / Scenes from the Student Intifada - From Palestine to LA, every act of repression just hardens the resolve of the resistance. / These are the violent thrashes of a dying empire. Palestine will be free!!
.” Chun’s post was a comment on a post from JAとS with the caption: “The USC liberation zone has taken back Alumni Park after LAPD’s violent repression last Wednesday. / DISCLOSE! DIVEST! WE WILL NOT STOP! WE WILL NOT REST!
.” The post included a video showing University of Southern California (USC) students taking over a public space as part of pro-Hamas and pro-BDS protests on campus.The term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” carries the connotation of violence. Palestinian intifadas waged against Israel have been marked since 1987 by hundreds of hijackings, shootings, stabbings, bombings and suicide missions.
Chun reposted a November 8, 2023 post on X from JAとS that said: “The #museumoftolerance prioritizes genocidal propaganda over public safety…/ F**k all of that. Zionism is anti-semitism. Zionism is fascism. Never again is NOW!”
Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture. Zionism is a core part of the identity of most Jews.
The phrase “Never Again” is often deployed as a general declaration against genocide, invoking the Nazis’ war of extermination against the Jews.
Chun’s post was in reference to the November 6, 2023 screening of a film about Hamas' October 7, 2023 war crimes, much of it filmed by the Hamas terrorists themselves, shown at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.
Anti-Israel activists compare Israel to Nazi Germany to insinuate that the plight of Palestinians has eclipsed Jewish suffering during the Holocaust.
Denial of the Hamas war crimes of October 7, 2023, among anti-Israel activists has been likened to Holocaust denial among neo-Nazis.
Hatred of the Police
As of September 2024, Chun’s X account banner was a photograph of a police car driving on the freeway past a wall with graffiti that read: “MERRY X-MAS ACAB.”"ACAB” is an acronym that stands for “All cops are bastards.” It is sometimes rendered as “1312,” representing the position of the letters in the English alphabet.
On July 26, 2024, JAとS posted on Instagram several images from an event to provide food and clothing to homeless people. Chun was featured [slide 4] in the photos and included in the same post [slide 5] were leaflets showing a black cat in an attack stance, wearing a mask in the shape of an inverted red triangle. The mask was marked “1312” under the acronym “A.C.A.T.” which was spelled out “ALL COPS ARE TARGETS.”
Chun reposted a November 26, 2023 post on X from PCC that said: “LAPD KKK IDF [Israel Defense Forces] THEYRE ALL THE SAME.”
Chun reposted an October 28, 2023 post on X from JAとS that read: “Downtown LA is already crawling with LAPD as these piggies wait for their chance to riot against #FreePalestine protestors.”
On February 16, 2023, the California Mercury News site reported the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) had plans to create an Office of Constitutional Policing “to address decades of allegations of…violent gangs of deputies at several sheriff’s stations.”
On the same date, an anti-police Instagram account called “tenemous.us” posted comments including “GOOGLE LASD GANGS” and Chun’s comment: “
F**K LASD [Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department].” The post had a photo of Chun holding up his middle finger, wearing a blue baseball cap with the acronym “LACAB [LA Cops Are Bastards]” and a t-shirt with the words: “F**K THE SHERIFFS.”Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/steven.chun.5439X:https://x.com/stxchun
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/steventchun/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/stxchun [Private]
Threads:https://www.threads.net/@stxchun
