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ST. LOUIS, Mo.—Jason Call, Green Party congressional candidate for the Second District, called upon Lynnwood City Councilman and fellow candidate, Josh Binda, to exit the race one day before being arrested on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, standing in “solidarity” with protestors calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Both Call and Binda are running for Washington’s Second Congressional District (Second CD) to replace Democratic incumbent Rick Larsen—Call as a Green Party member and Binda as a Democrat. The Second CD encompasses all of Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom counties, as well as coastal western Snohomish County.

Call, a former public school teacher and elected union representative, considers himself a lifelong anti-war and climate activist. He was arrested in St. Louis on Saturday, April 27, for engaging in a demonstration in support of students demands for divestment from Boeing for manufacturing munitions used in the Israel-Gaza conflict at its nearby St. Charles facility.

Call was visiting St. Louis with Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein for a campaign event. Call also serves as Stein’s campaign manager.

Stein joined Call in the St. Louis County jail in Clayton along with roughly 80 other demonstrators who now face a mixture of trespassing, assault, and resisting arrest charges. Stein argues that she was, in fact, the one assaulted by the police.

“It’s shameful that university administrations are condoning the use of force against their own students who are simply calling for peace, human rights, and an end to a genocide that the American people abhor,” Stein posted to X the Sunday after she was released from jail.

It's shameful that university administrations are condoning the use of force against their own students who are simply calling for peace, human rights, and an end to a genocide that the American people abhor.

— Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) April 28, 2024

The demonstration took place just a few blocks from campus where the campaign event was taking place. A handful of Washington University students were panelists at the campaign event and invited both Stein and Call to visit an encampment that had been erected to protest the Israel Palestine conflict.

At the encampment, Call and Stein were asked to engage with the administration on site to negotiate a de-escalation, given there were six different police departments represented on campus at the time, according to Call, who also shared that the administration chose not to engage. In response Call and Stein joined a linked-arm wall of both students and community members, determined to prevent police from removing the encampment.

“We stood with the students in solidarity as the police closed in, assaulted us with their bicycles, took us to the ground, zip tied us, and took approximately 80 of us to St Louis County jail,” Call told the Lynnwood Times. “I stand by our action and support the student demands for their university to divest from Boeing, as Boeing manufactures munitions used in the genocide in Gaza at their nearby St. Charles facility.”

Call and Stein spent about six hours in police custody before being released. They both face charges of trespassing with Stein being charged with assault.

Hearing about how no politician who does not stand with Palestine will get a vote from some communities

Solidarity in Kansas City, MO#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/Ak2HF5uL0N

— Jason Call 🇵🇸 Green Party WA02 JillStein2024 CM (@CallForCongress) April 29, 2024

The two are currently in Lawrence, Kansas continuing their campaigning and will visit Omaha, Nebraska on Wednesday, May 1, before returning to Washington state. The Call campaign has been canvassing throughout the Second Congressional District and has been holding community events since January, Call told the Lynnwood Times.

Call advocated for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to all aid, including and especially military aid to Israel which, he believes, is in violation of international laws. He further criticized President Joe Biden for supplying arms to a nation which, he said, has violated international laws, including the Leahy Rule.

“You don’t get to hold up a paltry amount of humanitarian aid on one hand while providing five times more in weapons on the other hand. It’s a farce written in the blood of children. Joe Biden is violating our own law by continuing to supply arms to a nation that is violating international law,” said Call.

At Washington University in St Louis where students have set up a divestment encampment. Students locked arms surrounding the tents while the fash stand ready to pRoTEcT aND sErVE#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/sfVr2HuXIP

— Jason Call 🇵🇸 Green Party WA02 JillStein2024 CM (@CallForCongress) April 27, 2024

Just one day before his arrest, the Marysville-based Green Party candidate publicly called on Lynnwood City Councilman and challenger Josh Binda to step down from the congressional race – just 10 days before the filing deadline. 

He cited Binda not having yet filed his FEC report which indicates he has raised less than the minimum threshold of $5,000—requiring a filing with the Federal Election Commission—as one of his reason.

Binda has said in response that he does not intend to follow Call’s suggestion to drop out of the race and is not required to file an FEC disclosure. Still, Call claims that a serious candidate for a congressional seat should have evidence of some financial backing and community support at just days before to the start of the May 6 filing week.

“I’ve known Josh for years. I respect him and align with him on many progressive values. I’m confident that Josh will have a prominent and impactful role to play in local and national politics in the coming years, but the stakes of this current election are too high to split the progressive vote,” said Call. “Removing Rick Larsen from office at this critical moment when our climate, the economy for working people, and justice for the Palestinian people demand it, should be the first order of business for any public servant in our district.”

In 2020 and 2022 Call’s campaign reached over 30,000 voters—2.5 times more than any other progressive challenger who has challenged incumbent Representative Larsen in the past.

Call claims he has been consistently fighting for progressive values for some 34 years and is attuned with the needs of CD 2 residents more than Larsen who he has criticized for being more interested in “corporate politics.”

Call slammed Larsen for taking “more than half of his campaign funding from corporate PACs, lobbyists, and corporate executives,” as well as his approach to “deregulating” the airline manufacturing industry, voting for the Bankruptcy Reform Act, and “undermining the legitimate business operations of legal dispensaries and fighting against federal decriminalization” of the marijuana industry, among other things.

“Larsen’s brand of corporate politics represents a clear and present danger to our continued survival in the face of a climate emergency. The progressive movement must unite behind the campaign best positioned to remove him and take us forward – our campaign,” said Call. “A Republican will not win the WA02 seat, ever. And this district, with our campaign, offers the best opportunity in the country to put the first crack in the stranglehold of corporate power that grips both major parties by electing the first Green Party member to Congress.”

Author: Kienan Briscoe