A fundraiser launched by X user Tom Hennessey has collected $28,000 to help Jaxton Tayte Collins fight felony assault charges stemming from an August incident in Helena, Montana. The campaign, which explicitly refuses to apologize for Collins' actions, describes the victim as a 'racial alien' and claims the attacker 'said the obvious out loud.'
The charging documents state that Collins admitted to drinking at a bar and shouting at the Indian man, who was wearing a head covering, before shoving him with both hands. Collins pleaded not guilty, but the fundraiser’s language goes far beyond legal technicalities, using dehumanizing slurs to justify the physical attack as a defense against 'cheap slave labor' and 'alien culture.'
The money is not just coming from anonymous donors. Big Sky Active Club, a nationwide network of white supremacist crews described by the Anti-Defamation League as 'fighters preparing for a war,' posted on X urging followers to support Collins. The group labeled the charges an 'unprecedented and egregious violation of first amendment rights.'
This isn’t Collins’ first brush with the law. In 2024, he faced attempted burglary and resisting arrest charges in Florida after allegedly damaging a Publix supermarket door and requiring a taser to detain him. He completed a pretrial intervention contract, and those charges were dropped. Now, in Montana, the stakes are higher, with a hate crime angle and a public campaign that treats racial harassment as a civic duty.
Collins’ next court date will determine if the state can secure a conviction for the felony assault. Meanwhile, the $28,000 war chest ensures his legal defense is well-funded, even as the Council on American-Islamic Relations calls for the judicial system to treat the hate-motivated offense with 'utmost seriousness.'