Public Comment

Berkeley Mayor and candidate for re-election, Jesse Arreguin, has sent out an email to his supporters in which he recommends a Berkeleyside article about his opponent Wayne Hsiung, alleging that “Wayne is running a deceptive campaign and not being truthful about his past, his record, or his true agenda. I encourage every Berkeley voter to read the Berkeleyside story before you vote.” 

The trouble is that the story recommended by Arreguin draws its information from a smear campaign against Hsiung and local animal rights activists belonging to the organization Direct Action Everywhere (DxE). Their personal character and the cause they advocate for are being maligned by those who fell out with them years ago (dating back at least to 2015), due to political and philosophical differences. 

Local animal rights activists are a motley group of people, holding diverse views and taking diverse approaches to political activism. The activists I’ve gotten to know, including Wayne, do not approve of all the actions that members of DxE have taken, Their tactics have sometimes been wrong-headed. However, they have also done much that is admirable, bringing to our attention massive abuse of animals that is egregious. Maybe you’ve learned, as I have, about what goes on in the cruel world of agribusiness. 

I’m not an animal rights activist myself – I’m not even a vegetarian. But their cause is certainly legitimate. Direct Action Everywhere is interested in publicizing the mistreatment of animals and building a movement -- an aim that is certainly not foreign to those of us who are leftist veterans! It’s true that such organizing can be done in a devious fashion, but animal rights activists here in the East Bay, including Wayne Hsiung, are doing their political work transparently and with integrity. 

Is Wayne a manipulative schemer, as represented in the Berkeleyside piece? Take a look at the articles that he himself has written, for example the Huffington Post articles listed at: Wayne Hsiung Huffington Post Articles. An introduction to his activism, including his personal history and approach to animal rights advocacy, is the podcast interview done with Ezra Klein, which is linked to in this Vox article: When doing the right thing makes you a criminal.  

Whomever we support for Berkeley mayor, I hope we can agree that turning ideological differences into slander is something we reject.