Occupy Wall Street Protester-Turned-YPG-Volunteer Killed Fighting Islamic State in Raqqa

Robert Grodt, a 28-year-old American volunteer fighter for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, was killed during a firefight with Islamic State militants in Raqqa on July 6, according to a martyrdom video released by the YPG.Grodt, originally from California, explained in prior interviews that the siege of Kobane in 2014 inspired him to begin following Kurdish news more closely. Despite having started a family, Grodt had several friends already fighting alongside the Kurdish group, and took the second half of 2016 to organize his travel to Syria. He had been fighting against IS in Syria for approximately six months before his death in Raqqa.Grodt, who lived in New York for several years before traveling to Syria, identified himself as a volunteer medic and humanitarian aid worker, and was a participant in the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, where he helped protesters suffering from chemical burns incurred by police use of pepper spray near Union Square. It was there at the Occupy Wall Street protests that he met Kaylee Dedrick, whom he would later marry. Their child, Tegan, was born in 2012, and was quickly dubbed the Occubaby by the press. Credit: YPG Press Office via Storyful