[sudo-discuss] Update on Zachary RunningWolf

Dear friends, At last night's delegates meeting we spent over an hour talking about RunningWolf. The delegates did not make any new consensus decisions, but we did review the status quo at length and it now seems clear to me that: * Nobody is satisfied with how mediation went * Many are unsatisfied with his signed statement * Several people feel that he has personally harassed and threatened them * When I approved ZRW's key card last week, I acted too quickly * If his return had been directly proposed to delegates, several would have blocked * Many people who I value and care about feel *very* strongly that they cannot share space with ZRW, to the point where including ZRW would implicitly exclude them After hearing all these things, I decided the best thing would be to revoke his card. Julian and I went upstairs and told him. It was raining, so we didn't ask him to leave right away, but we told him that next time he left, he would not be able to get back in. We spoke for over an hour, and I tried my best to be on good terms given the circumstances. This was my first extended interaction with the man, and I understand now why his situation has been so controversial and so insidious. He talks a good talk about Berkeley politics, pollution and indigenous sovereignty, he has done real admirable work as a tree-sitter, and he is an accomplished street artist whose medicine wheels on every bike path have added joy to countless lives in our city. He is unquestionably an elder, and deserves to be treated as such. He's also a petty, self-centered, delusional liar who seems completely unable to take any criticism or undergo any of the necessary personal growth or accountability of a "restorative" or "transformative" justice process. I see a man who cannot work meaningfully with others, who's made a long career out of burning bridges, for whom Omni is just one more proxy battle in his war against masonic lodges, UC regents, and anybody else he can blame for his conflicts other than himself and his own behavior. He told me directly that he has no respect for any mediation process, and doesn't care about how anybody else feels. He plainly admitted to making threats to break our windows, and to actually doing similar acts of sabotage (such as cutting off Berkeley Liberation Radio's antenna) although he claimed he never followed through on the threat against Omni, saying "I never do just one window". He claims to speak for a Real Oakland of vigilante justice which will rise out of the woodwork to avenge him. Don't buy it. Don't let him appropriate black struggle when all it means is glorifying gang violence and throwing the N word around. Don't let him insult his own ancestors by acting a fool in their name. And most of all, don't let him distract us from all the other important work we can be doing besides enabling his abuse. I tried to give him my best, but he doesn't want it. I am done. I will no longer waste any time advocating for him to be inside Omni. I am content with this being the end of this road. With love and solidarity, Yar