For Immediate Release, Tuesday, May 24 - 1994 Contact: (510) 549-0732 Pacifist and Advocate for the Homeless Held Political Prisoner by the City of San Francisco Under circumstances more closely resembling a collaborative effort between Franz Kafka and Lewis Caroll, San Francisco Food Not Bombs activist and author Keith McHenry is being held in jail as a political prisoner by the City of San Francisco with bail set at $75,000. A long time pacifist and advocate for the rights of the poor and homeless, Keith has been the target of an escalating series of false arrests, police brutality, stalkings by members of Mayor Frank Jordan's staff, and other forms of intimidation and official harassment. Despite being physically attacked by both the San Francisco Police and mayoral staff members, Keith has yet to raise a hand to strike back at his attackers. Nor has he been discouraged from continuing to be a vocal critic of the anti-homeless policies put forward by Mayor Frank Jordan at the behest of the downtown business and corporate interests, who, in the words of one Union Square business person, want to see their areas of business become a mercantile "Disneyland" complete with private security forces. Keith's present situation arose from a series of incidents beginning earlier in the year when he was attacked in City Hall by Nick Roomel, an aide to Mayor Frank Jordan. Prior to that assault Nick Roomel had been stalking Keith for several months. Curiously, the primary witness for the city turned out to be Randy Ridle a member of the City Attorney's staff and whose name appears on numerous legal documents targeting Food Not Bombs since 1989. Nick's alleged that Keith hit him and attempted to steal his beeper, this version of the incident was supported by Randy Ridle. Keith was arrested and charged with felony assault and strong arm robbery. This effectively prevented Keith from testifying on the behalf of another Food Not Bombs activist, Robert Kahn, who was being charged with violating the court injunction ordering Food Not Bombs not to serve food to the homeless in San Francisco Parks, i.e. Civic Center Plaza. After a series of up and down bail amounts Keith was released from custody after posting a bond on a bail amount of $10,000. Several months later on Tuesday, May 10, 1994 Keith was arrested while setting up an information table. After an initial inability to figure out what to charge him with the San Francisco police charged him with receiving stolen property, a milk crate. At that time he was helping to put together a demonstration scheduled for Wednesday, May 11 to fight the attacks on the poor and homeless in Santa Cruz, CA. This obviously bogus charge was dropped and Keith was released from custody on Thursday, May 12. On the following day he went into City Hall to distribute some information packets. When he and a friend entered the office of Supervisor Kaufman they were stopped by Nancy Katz, an aide, who started screaming at them. As they backed out of the office she attempted to slam the door on them. To protect his friend from being hit by the door Keith raised his hand to block the door. His hand made contact with the glass portion of the door which shattered, severely lacerating his hand. Police officers literally followed a trail of blood to the office of an attorney located across the street at Opera Plaza. He was arrested and held for 7 hours before receiving any medical treatment for his injuries which included a severed artery. Charged with felony assault, vandalism and refusal to leave the property, Keith remained in jail until Tuesday, May 17 when bond was posted on his bail of $25,000. Again, the only other witness to this incident was, guess who, Randy Ridle. Seizing upon this as an opportunity to impugn and slander Keith McHenry and to portray him as a violent, psychotic person totally out of control, the District Attorney's office demanded a bail hearing to increase Keith's bail in the Nick Roomel case. This request was granted and on Friday, May 20 the bail was increased to $75,000 which was much lower that what the DA was shooting for, at least $250,000. At this moment bail is being raised to bring about Keith's release as soon as possible. Otherwise, he would remain in jail until July 11, the date set for the trial in the Nick Roomel case. Obviously, one does not have to be Sherlock Holmes to see the pattern developing here. Keith McHenry's friendly and warm demeanor combined with an iron determination to bring about a more just and humane world make him a very effective organizer. It is rather easy to see the bifurcated strategy at work here. One, set up situations where more and resources have to be expended in legal battles, bail funds, legal costs, etc. Two, isolate and marginalize Keith by escalating portrayals of him as a violent and dangerous person. Such tactics can ultimately be used to justify about any action that might be taken against Keith in the future by the San Francisco Police, including murder. He, along with other members of Food Not Bombs, have received death threat from members of the San Francisco police. Police operations against Food Not Bombs are being carried out by an elite unit known as Special Operations. In the past such groupings in police departments were called "Red Squads". Since 1989 members of the City Attorney's office have pursued a campaign of harassment against Food Not Bombs and Keith McHenry. In the past there have been 12 incidents where Keith has been arrested, put in jail on bogus charges and the charges dropped prior to any court proceedings. Over 350 arrests of Food Not Bombs members have taken place since the implementation of Mayor Frank Jordan's infamous Matrix program in August, 1993. Food servers and supporters have been beaten, tortured, harassed and sexually assaulted by the San Francisco police who have even gone as far to chase one of Keith's dogs, Pluto, off the edge of a cliff breaking it legs.. In custody, hot soup was dumped on one man and a woman was forced to go to the bathroom in front of an entire group of male officers. Arrests have been extremely brutal and violent, all for the simple act of serving food to the homeless. Many of these incidents have been well documented and the video tapes bear witness to the violence perpetrated on Food Not Bombs by the City of San Francisco. In a statement from jail, Keith McHenry summed it up this way: "This level of attack indicates the City of San Francisco is worried about the degree of resistance that groups such as Food Not Bombs can generate. These attacks clarify just how immoral, greedy and corrupt the government of San Francisco is. To jail someone repeatedly on trumped up felony and misdemeanor charges because they feed the homeless and hand out flyers supporting the civil rights of the poor clearly exposes the corrupting influence of corporate power on civil rights and liberties in this country. It is becoming increasingly clear that the ideals and vision of San Francisco Food Not Bombs and its 50 sister groups across North America are spreading rapidly and gaining world wide support and recognition. An increasing onslaught of mail, phone calls and international media recognition are evidence for this. Our voice is being heard in at least 60 countries around the world on an international shortwave program broadcast by Radio For Peace in Costa Rica. We will not be stopped from exerting and expressing our fundamental right to resist political repression and our demand for an equitable distribution of wealth and resources." Friends of Keith McHenry and those who have worked with him are encouraged to write individual statements attesting to his character and commitment to non-violence and social change. Mail these to: Food Not Bombs, 3124 Geary Blvd, #12, San Francisco, CA 94118. Funds for legal defense and bail should be made out to Food Not Bombs and sent to the same address. Organizations and individuals around the world are encouraged to hold support demonstrations and press conferences to demand the release of Keith McHenry, the immediate cessation of the attacks on Food Not Bombs and the homeless by the City San Francisco and an investigation of the City of San Francisco by the Justice Department, Congress and organizations such as the UN Commission on Human Rights and Amnesty International for its violation of civil, constitutional and human rights. Further, they should call Mayor Frank Jordan to express their concern and outrage - (415) 554-6141. For general information call the Food Not Bombs hot line: (415) 330-5030 News media please call (510) 549-0732.