Adam Reposa, a Texas lawyer known for his unconventional and often confrontational approach to law, recently found himself on the receiving end of a raid. Even before the SWAT van had a chance to refuel, this outspoken attorney was reportedly already devising plans to transform the experience into a platform for his ongoing advocacy for individual freedoms.
Reposa, whose legal style is as much performance art as courtroom procedure, had been operating an unlicensed cannabis dispensary out of a residence in East Austin. On January 22nd, law enforcement officers from multiple agencies executed a morning raid on the property. They seized approximately 100 pounds of what is believed to be marijuana, along with edibles and cash.
This incident, which was initially reported in “The Austin Chronic” in March (see “Notorious Lawyer Adam Reposa Gets Raided For Running an Illegal Dispensary”), has yet to result in formal charges against Reposa or his two associates who were present during the raid. Furthermore, District Attorney José Garza has been officially recused from prosecuting the case. According to a D.A. official speaking on background to The Austin Chronic, the recusal was a measure to preempt potential conflicts of interest, given Reposa’s standing as a practicing defense attorney and his personal familiarity with members of the office. To date, no other court has filed charges against Reposa related to the raid.
For many, being subjected to a raid involving flash-bang grenades might prompt a period of quiet reflection and withdrawal. However, Adam Reposa appears to operate by a different set of rules. Already known for his defiant stance, he seemingly interpreted the raid as an escalation, prompting him to double down on his “fuck-you mode.”
His business venture, ATX Budtenders – which he has legally characterized as a “Washington D.C. style gifting dispensary” – swiftly responded by launching a line of Mr. Chinga T-shirts. These shirts feature a series of creatively illustrated caricatures targeting figures of authority. Among them are depictions of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as “Ken Sucks Ton” with bribe money bulging from his pockets, Governor Greg Abbott portrayed as a Nazi scientist, and Deputy Sheriff Mario Sotelo – the officer who swore to the search warrant – reimagined as Nintendo’s Mario, sailing on a ghost ship laden with bags labeled “Property of Adam Reposa.”
Adding a soundtrack to his public campaign of defiance, Reposa produced a parody of Motörhead’s iconic song “Ace of Spades.” Demonstrating a surprisingly accurate Lemmy Kilmister impression, he replaced the original title phrase with “Ounce of Weed.” The song serves as a direct taunt to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office deputies, whom he derides as “Plastic badge federales,” and to the judicial system itself, with lyrics like: “I see it in your style/ Let’s have a jury trial.”
Reposa’s motivations are transparent: a self-proclaimed “freedom junkie” with a birthday on the Fourth of July, he is targeting individuals and institutions he believes are encroaching upon fundamental American rights – life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and, in his view, the right to consume cannabis. However, some of his other public crusades introduce a more ambiguous line between principled action and outright antagonism.
In late May, outside the Travis County D.A.’s Office, Reposa staged a protest that visually blended legal professionalism with counter-cultural rebellion. From the waist down, he presented the image of a traditional attorney – dress shirt, suspenders, pleated trousers. Above, he sported a long, shaggy hairstyle reminiscent of a Weedwolf character, while holding a picket sign declaring: “No Way José!!! Do Your Job!” He was joined by three associates in costume, holding signs reading: “No Child Should Have to Look at Olde Man-Dyck.”
This particular demonstration stemmed from Reposa’s well-documented disdain for Austin’s legal system, which has twice held him in contempt of court and jailed him. This animosity has fueled what he describes as a side quest to expose bias and “white entitlement” that he asserts is deeply embedded in the local municipal culture.
On this occasion, his protest centered on the case of a prominent Austin defense attorney who, Reposa argued, was being leniently charged after allegedly masturbating in front of children and their mother on a public walking trail.
An arrest affidavit obtained by the Chronicle confirms that Christopher Gunter, a former Travis County assistant D.A. from the 1980s, was arrested on April 27th at Mills Pond park on an indecent exposure charge. The police report includes a statement:
“The victim was informed by her 14-year-old child that he knew Christopher was masturbating and that his, Christopher, penis was fully erect because they just talked about sex education in school.”
Reposa is publicly expressing outrage that Gunter’s alleged actions were classified as indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, without any bond conditions restricting his contact with children. Reposa contends that the presence of children should automatically classify this as a felony. To support his argument, he has cited a separate case from June 23rd involving a different individual who also masturbated near a local running trail, in proximity to a 14-year-old, which resulted in felony charges of indecency with a child.
“The question is: Is it a threat to our democracy that a high-profile lawyer gets to jerk off in front of kids without the same liability that this Black dude gets?” Reposa challenges, framing the issue in terms of racial disparity within the legal system. “And if you ask that to these West Austin people, they’re going to look at you like you’re speaking Mandarin fuckin’ Chinese. That’s what white entitlement is.”
Attorney Gene Anthes, a law partner of Christopher Gunter who is representing him in this matter, maintains Gunter’s innocence and describes the arrest as “clearly a case of misidentification on the part of the complaining witness.” Anthes claims that he and Gunter demonstrated the misidentification to the case detective by revisiting the scene of the alleged incident and showing where Gunter was at the time.
When asked if he views Gunter and Reposa as rivals, Anthes commented: “You know, goddammit, Adam is an excellent litigator, but I think the thing that makes him an excellent litigator is his mental instability. So I wouldn’t say they’re rivals, I’d say we’re all tired of Adam’s shenanigans.”
The D.A.’s Office source clarified that their office has no involvement in initial charging decisions, which, in this instance, were made by Travis County Sheriff’s Office deputies. As a misdemeanor case, it falls under the jurisdiction of the county court. Elevating it to a felony would require presentation to a grand jury.
Adding another layer to Reposa’s ongoing legal engagements, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against the city of Austin, aimed at overturning a voter-approved ordinance decriminalizing marijuana possession, had its first in-person court hearing on June 10th in Travis County District Court. Prior to the hearing, a city litigation department representative confirmed that both the city of Austin and progressive organizers Ground Game Texas had filed motions to dismiss Paxton’s lawsuit. On June 4th, Adam Reposa entered the legal fray, submitting his own motion to dismiss.
While the motions filed by the city and Ground Game Texas adhered to conventional legal formality, Reposa’s filing adopted his signature provocative style. He labeled Ken Paxton a “Nazi party throwback,” likened Texas’ cannabis laws to a “new era of Juneteenth,” and dismissed the purported dangers of marijuana as government-fabricated myths. He grounded his legal argument in a constitutional claim based on the 14th Amendment.
“Americans have a fundamental right to be free from government lies as a promise of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Reposa’s motion asserts. “Adam Reposa, having been lied on by government, robbed by government, and unafraid of government, represents the fundamental nature of American freedom and comes to ask this Court as an American and a Texan to find with total clarity once and for all that the facts are clear, Marijuana is not dangerous, and to characterize marijuana as such in your search warrant affidavit violates the protections guaranteed by the Texas Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, and is rank player hating.”
In a move that even by his own standards could be considered audacious, Reposa included the current menu of ATX Budtenders in his legal filing against the Attorney General:
“21 strains from $80 an ounce to $240 an ounce
Gummies up to 200 mg of CDB
Pens vapes and all that
Concentrated Chinga, Mr. Chinga, Chinga Dinga Bringa Thinga to Ringa and Singa
Pre-rolls 5 pack $20.”
