BERKELEY CAMPAIGN CENTER
Berkeley Mayoral candidate Zachary Runningwolf has been held in jail for nearly a month on minor misdemeanor charges, making him unable to participate in the mayoral electoral process in the City of Berkeley. He has been on hunger strike for almost two weeks now. The following is his statement for Indigenous Peoples' Day, brought to us from Santa Rita Penitentiary:
I am incarcerated in my own land. My only crime is running for Mayor in the city where I grew up, Berkeley.
The Prison-Industrial Complex is the fastest growing reservation. There are now 36 prisons in California, and the State of California has built 22 prisons but just 1 UC since the 1980s.
Currently, I am on the 12 day of a hunger strike and I give food to other inmates who have been denied food by the Warden, whose wife owns the Commissary.
My crime posted is misdemeanor vandalism and marijuana possession with no bail allowed. I have not yet gone to trial despite spending a month in jail due to repeated obstruction by the Oakland court system.
In reality, I am being persecuted for being in solidarity with the ongoing national prison strike in the guise of a vandalism charge.
(There are 50 prisons on work stoppage across the country, making this the largest prison strike in U.S. history. Slavery is legal as a punishment for crime under the 13th amendment, and throughout the country, millions of people are forced to work for almost nothing.)
I am also guilty of leading the 7th annual 4 Day Stop Driving campaign, during which I was arrested. Beginning October 11th of this year, this has become a monthly Stop Driving campaign on the 11th-14th of each month due to the global warming climate emergency we find ourselves in.
Another vandalism charge against me is a vandalism charge for a "Stop Fukushima" message. The real criminals are being exposed.
The U.S. State Department has controlled Japan since the end of WWII and I am the one being held.
The birth of the Nuclear Age was in the exact city where I am running for Mayor.
No advice or warnings were issued by the UC, the institution that birthed this nightmare.
The real criminals are those who have temporarily killed the Pacific Ocean.
My crimes are trying to protect 7 billion people and protect Mother Earth.
From Santa Rita Penitentiary,
RunningWolf for Mayor
Indigenous Peoples' Day