Biography
Steve Argue is known for antiwar street protest organizing in Santa Cruz during the late 1990s, where demonstrations against U.S. military action escalated into confrontations with police. Accounts describe him intervening during a chaotic police clearing of demonstrators, an interaction that became central to the legal case against him.
He was arrested during the May 1999 protest and later convicted of felony battery and resisting arrest, receiving a nine-month jail sentence. Reporting on his confinement noted that he was placed in isolation shortly after beginning his term, reflecting how protest-related defendants can face both conventional criminal penalties and restrictive jail conditions tied to perceived organizing or defiance. Per Nuclear Resister #118 (early 2003): On May 22, 2002 Argue was arrested during an anti-Iraq-war demonstration in Santa Cruz that targeted U.S. Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) over Farr's pro-war stance. Police sparked a melee; Argue was charged with felony battery and resisting arrest. He was sentenced to nine months in the Santa Cruz County Jail and added 30 days to his sentence by refusing transfer to minimum security. He began serving on November 23, 2002 in Unit K. His statement at sentencing: "I'm not your chump, I'm not your slave."
