In the early 1980s, he was registered with the Democratic Party and sought to be a Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives and Senate. He has been incarcerated in Los Angeles County, California, and in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and has been the subject of several lawsuits and government inquiries. He, his son, and WAR were fined $12 million as a result of the murder of an Ethiopian by skinheads affiliated with WAR.[4]