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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
23 JUNE 1997
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U.S. federal and city governments are not tolerant of political dissent; Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry is framed again
In a new attack on activists who are critical of Government and corporate priorities in San Francisco, hunger and homeless activist Keith McHenry was jailed, yet again, as part of a pattern of government harassment of FOOD NOT BOMBS, political and community activists, and of the homeless and poor people. On Saturday, June 21, 1997, Keith McHenry drove his truck with vegetarian food that was to be served at the "Beggars' Banquet" demonstration that was being held outside of the National Conference of Mayors in San Francisco. Life-long pacifist Keith McHenry was arrested and beaten by the San Francisco Police upon his arrival at the "Beggars' Banquet" demonstration. He was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon and failure to obey the orders of a peace (sic) officier. This false arrest was apparently done to silence this outspoken critic of government policies against the poor and the charges are similar to the fabricated felony charges that were alleged against him in 1994. Keith's arraignment is presently scheduled for Thursday, June 26, 1997, at 9:00 AM, at the San Francisco Hall of "Justice".
This arrest appears to be in response to an interview that Keith had with several news reporters on Friday, June 20, 1997. Several local reporters, who had just interviewed San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, proceeded to interview Keith, who spoke against corporate control of local governments, the hierarchical structure of the Mayor's Office in most major U.S. cities and the manipulation of government by powerful corporations. Moments after Keith's interview, Keith was attacked by an unidentified DPW (Department of Public Works) employee while he was posting anti-corporate literature on public city light poles. The DPW worker grabbed Keith and tried to take his literature, but Keith broke away and left the area. The unidentified DPW worker then chased and threaten Keith, and called on a cellular phone for the police to arrest Keith. Keith got into his truck and left, just as the DPW worker caught up with him and attempted to remove him from his truck. No one was injured during this incident.
In 1994, Keith was falsely accused of several similar felonies. Had he been convicted, he would have been sentenced under the recently enacted California "three-strikes" law, and could have received a prison sentence of 25 years to life. Because of this history, this incident will be reported to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva which has been conducting an investigation into human rights violations against Keith McHenry, the FOOD NOT BOMBS organization, and poor and homeless people in San Francisco. Amnesty International in London, the FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN) in Heidelberg, and The Humanitarian Law Project in Los Angeles are also investigating the FOOD NOT BOMBS case.
Keith McHenry is an outspoken critic of U.S. Government policies against the poor and has been an eloquent and persuasive critic at recent San Francisco Police Commission hearings about the police murder of Aaron Williams. Officer Mark Andaya, the officier responsible for Aaron Williams death, is still presently an active duty San Francisco Police Officer, in spite of his long history of violence and brutality as a police officier. Officier Andaya was seen brutally beating Aaron Williams in June of 1995. Officier Andaya pepper-sprayed Aaron, hog-tied him, place a suffocating mask on him and left him to die in the back of a police van.
Every time Keith has been at a protest since Willie Brown has been mayor of San Francisco, Keith has been harassed by the police and has had his vehicle illegally ticked and towed. It is obvious that these were attempts to thwart and silence political dissent and protest during the U.S. Conference of Mayors which was held in San Francisco. If this had happened to political activists in China it would be world news. This type of framing to silence political dissent in the U.S.A. is largely ignored by the U.S. news media.
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