ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska man says he didn’t have problems with authorities after he reopened a strip club on his converted crabbing boat as a way to protest his conviction on federal charges.
Darren Byler launched the first nightly protest Thursday in a harbor near the island town of Kodiak. He says about 35 people showed up to watch eight exotic dancers aboard the 94-foot Wild Alaskan.
Byler was fined and sentenced to probation in January for disposing human waste off the same vessel. He says the federal “poop” charges were retaliation from authorities and others who disapprove of the exotic-dancer business.
He’s not serving alcohol or charging admission, but people have to pay $25 for a round-trip water-taxi ride.
Coast Guard and Kodiak police didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.