30-year-old Louis Marinelli, the leader of Yes California, opened the “Embassy of the Independent Republic of California" in Moscow on December 18. Screenshot/YouTube The leader of California separatist group Yes California announced in a 1,600-word statement on Monday that he "intends to make Russia" his "new home" and is therefore withdrawing his petition for a "Calexit" referendum.

Louis Marinelli, who has spearheaded the Calexit campaign since 2015, set up a makeshift embassy in Moscow in December in partnership with far-right Russian nationalists who enjoy Kremlin support while promoting secessionist movements in Europe.

"I have found in Russia a new happiness, a life without the albatross of frustration and resentment towards ones' homeland, and a future detached from the partisan divisions and animosity that has thus far engulfed my entire adult life," Marinelli wrote on Monday. "Consequently, if the people of Russia would be so kind as to welcome me here on a permanent basis, I intend to make Russia my new home."

He added that he will "not return to California in the forseeable future," so "it is only proper" that he withdraw the Calexit ballot initiative petition and "allow a new petition, free from ties to me and drafted by others, to be resubmitted at future date of their choosing."

Marinelli had been organizing the California independence referendum from Russia's fourth-largest city, Yekaterinburg, where he has lived with his wife, Anastasia, since September.

He said in an interview in December that he was looking specifically to countries with veto power on the UN Security Council (UNSC) — Russia and China — to support his movement and recognize the results of an independence referendum in the event that the US and its UNSC allies rejected its legitimacy.

"We don't think that Russia needs to be an enemy of California, or that it even is one to begin with," Marinelli said. "The idea that Russia is an enemy of the US — that's a Cold War mentality."

Marinelli, who campaigned for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders but said he ultimately voted for President Donald Trump, described Yes California as a progressive initiative aimed at establishing a "liberal republic" independent of the United States. But his decision to align Yes California so publicly with Russia alienated him from the other, albeit smaller, California separatist movement known as the California Nationalist Party.

Both of the efforts gained more mainstream traction in the wake of Trump's surprising victory in November.

Marinelli reiterated on Monday that he does "not wish to live under the American flag," adding that his "frustrations" with the American political system have now pointed him toward Russia.

"I had long planned to eventually return to occupied California and struggle for her independence from the United States so we could build the kind of country that reflects our progressive values," Marinelli wrote. "However, while my frustration, disappointment and disillusionment with the United States remains, these feelings now point me in a different direction."

He added that he hopes that "after the false allegations about me vanish, and after this period of anti-Russian hysteria subsides," it will be "said of this campaign that we spoke the truth" and "set in motion a series of events that led California to independence from the United States."

"When that day finally comes, as it will, I shall look forward with great satisfaction to return to California and to live once again under our bear flag," Marinelli wrote. "Until then I will continue to serve as the representative of the Republic of California to Russia."</s>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Supporters of a long-shot bid to make California an independent nation on Monday ended their effort to put it to a statewide vote next year, despite the extra interest it drew after last year’s election of Republican Donald Trump as president.

The secretary of state’s office confirmed that Marcus Ruiz Evans, vice president of the Yes California Independence Campaign, notified officials he intends to withdraw the California Nationhood ballot measure.

The group’s president, Louis Marinelli, said in a lengthy message to supporters that he is seeking permanent residence in Russia. He said supporters may try again to separate California from the rest of the United States sometime in the future.

The ballot measure would have allowed voters to repeal a part of the state Constitution saying that California is an inseparable part of the United States, but left the question of whether California should become a separate country to a future ballot. It would have required that the governor ask to join the United Nations if 55 percent of voters supported that future declaration of independence.

Congress and 38 states would have had to agree to change the U.S. Constitution to permit California to actually secede.

The group had received a social media boost with Trump’s election. Marinelli said in November that the group’s Facebook contacts grew from about 11,000 to about 15,000 as election results came in, while its email account received about 3,000 messages.

He and Evans said California’s overwhelming support of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and measures legalizing recreational marijuana and reducing crime penalties showed how far California voters were removed from the rest of the nation.

They also equated the movement to last year’s decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, dubbed Brexit. California, with its 39 million residents, is often compared to a nation, and data from the World Bank shows its economy was equivalent to the sixth-largest in the world in 2015.

However, the group needed more than 585,000 signatures by July to put a measure on the ballot. Marinelli said it had fewer than 97,500 registered supporters. About 8,500 signed up as volunteers but only about 1,200 had contributed money.

Prior to Trump’s election, the group had fewer than 100 volunteers, Marinelli said.

Both Marinelli and Evans claimed credit, in separate statements, for starting the Calexit campaign.

“With the right leadership and sufficient resources, particularly of a financial nature, Calexit can and will really take off,” Marinelli said.

He acknowledged that his ties to Russia had become a distraction and said he intends to live there, if he is permitted, because of his “frustration, disappointment and disillusionment with the United States.”

He cited his struggle with U.S. officials since 2012 over the immigration status of his wife, a foreign national who he said faced the threat of deportation. He praised California officials for their attempts to shield immigrant residents from deportation and said his wife now has her green card.

When California one day becomes independent, Marinelli wrote, “I shall look forward with great satisfaction to return to California and to live once again under our bear flag.”</s>SACRAMENTO - Supporters of a long-shot bid to make California an independent nation are ending their effort to put it to a statewide vote next year.

The secretary of state's office confirmed Monday that Marcus Ruiz Evans, vice president of the Yes California Independence Campaign, notified officials he intends to withdraw the California Nationhood ballot measure.

The group's president, Louis Marinelli, says in a message to supporters that he is seeking permanent residence in Russia. He says supporters may try again to separate California from the United States at a later date.

The movement drew extra interest after last year's election of Republican Donald Trump as president.

Marinelli says the group has nearly 100,000 registered supporters. Supporters needed more than 585,000 signatures by July to put a measure on the ballot.</s>FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2016, file photo, Marcus Ruiz Evans, center, vice president of The Yes California Independence Campaign, talks to about California succeeding from the United States and becoming its own nation in Sacramento, Calif. Ruiz Evan's said Monday, April 17, 2017, that he notified officials that he intends to withdraw the California Nationhood ballot measure. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Supporters of one long-shot bid to make California an independent nation ended their effort on Monday, while another group said it will launch a new campaign for a statewide vote next year.

The drive to make the nation's most populous state its own country, with what would be the world's sixth-largest economy, has drawn extra interest after last year's election of Republican Donald Trump as president.

But the Yes California Independence Campaign faltered after its president, Louis Marinelli, revealed ties to Russia. Marinelli said in a lengthy message to supporters Monday that he is seeking permanent residence in Russia because of his "frustration, disappointment and disillusionment with the United States."

The secretary of state's office confirmed that Marcus Ruiz Evans, the group's vice president, withdrew the California Nationhood ballot measure.

Evans said he was leaving the Yes California group and joining the California Freedom Coalition, which he described as a grassroots organizing effort that evolved since last year's election.

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The coalition plans to file its own ballot measure in coming weeks, without the baggage of Marinelli's Russian ties, said Steve Gonzales, the new group's secretary-treasurer and board member.

"It prevented Yes California from getting any serious money, I can tell you that," Gonzales said, noting that he is a native Californian who has never been to Russia. The group will accept no foreign money, and contributions from other states must be cleared by the coalition's board, he said.

The coalition would need to collect more than 585,000 signatures to qualify a ballot measure declaring California's independence for the November 2018 ballot. The measure is still being written, Gonzales said.

Congress and 38 states would have had to agree to change the U.S. Constitution to permit California to actually secede.

Marinelli said Yes California had fewer than 97,500 registered supporters. About 8,500 signed up as volunteers, but only about 1,200 had contributed money.

Prior to Trump's election, the group had fewer than 100 volunteers, Marinelli said, and the group received a social media boost with Trump's election.

Marinelli and Evans said California's overwhelming support of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and measures legalizing recreational marijuana and reducing crime penalties showed how far California voters were removed from the rest of the nation.

They also equated the movement to last year's decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, dubbed Brexit. California, with its 39 million residents, is often compared to a nation.

Their withdrawn ballot measure would have allowed voters to repeal a part of the state Constitution saying that California is an inseparable part of the United States next year, but left the question of whether California should become a separate country to a future ballot.

Both Marinelli and Evans claimed credit for starting the Calexit campaign.

Marinelli cited his struggle with U.S. officials since 2012 over his wife's immigration status. He praised California officials for their attempts to shield immigrant residents from deportation and said his wife now has her green card.

When California one day becomes independent, Marinelli wrote, "I shall look forward with great satisfaction to return to California and to live once again under our bear flag."</s>SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Supporters of one long-shot bid to make California an independent nation ended their effort on Monday, while another group said it will launch a new campaign for a statewide vote next year.

The drive to make the nation's most populous state its own country, with what would be the world's sixth-largest economy, has drawn extra interest after last year's election of Republican Donald Trump as president.

But the Yes California Independence Campaign faltered after its president, Louis Marinelli, revealed ties to Russia. Marinelli said in a lengthy message to supporters Monday that he is seeking permanent residence in Russia because of his "frustration, disappointment and disillusionment with the United States."

Evans said he was leaving the Yes California group and joining the California Freedom Coalition, which he described as a grassroots organizing effort that evolved since last year's election.

The coalition plans to file its own ballot measure in coming weeks, without the baggage of Marinelli's Russian ties, said Steve Gonzales, the new group's secretary-treasurer and board member.

"It prevented Yes California from getting any serious money, I can tell you that," Gonzales said, noting that he is a native Californian who has never been to Russia. The group will accept no foreign money, and contributions from other states must be cleared by the coalition's board, he said.

The coalition would need to collect more than 585,000 signatures to qualify a ballot measure declaring California's independence for the November 2018 ballot. The measure is still being written, Gonzales said.

Congress and 38 states would have had to agree to change the U.S. Constitution to permit California to actually secede.

Marinelli said Yes California had fewer than 97,500 registered supporters. About 8,500 signed up as volunteers, but only about 1,200 had contributed money.

Marinelli and Evans said California's overwhelming support of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and measures legalizing recreational marijuana and reducing crime penalties showed how far California voters were removed from the rest of the nation.

They also equated the movement to last year's decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, dubbed Brexit. California, with its 39 million residents, is often compared to a nation.

Their withdrawn ballot measure would have allowed voters to repeal a part of the state Constitution saying that California is an inseparable part of the United States next year, but left the question of whether California should become a separate country to a future ballot.

Marinelli cited his struggle with U.S. officials since 2012 over his wife's immigration status. He praised California officials for their attempts to shield immigrant residents from deportation and said his wife now has her green card.</s>It was never going to happen anyway, critics said. And while the Yes California campaign may have surprised many last year when it received state authorization to begin collecting signatures for ballot access, it all came to an anticlimactic end on Monday."For me, today, my ballot initiative petition drive came to an end," Yes California leader Louis J. Marinelli wrote to supporters in an email Monday, according to the Sacramento Bee.The campaign website has yet to be updated.Yes California was in the middle of signature gathering, aiming to bring the issue of secession to voters on the November 2018 ballot.If voters agreed to amend the state's constitution, removing text deeming the republic "inseparable" from the US and declaring the US Constitution to be the "law of the land," then a follow-up vote to form their own country would take place in March 2019.Marinelli, whose wife is Russian, lived there during the Yes California campaign, moving to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg to teach English, but this connection to Russia was poisonous to the Calexit effort. That was especially the case following the election of President Donald Trump, who lost the Golden State by over 4 million votes, and who continues to be the object of protests calling for tax records amid accusations that Russia engineered his victory.Ruiz Evans said fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin was somehow behind Calexit drove away donors and supporters."People got scared," he told the Bee. "They got spooked by what they saw on the news and pulled out."Marinelli will stay on as president of Yes California. Meanwhile, other groups in California are pursuing similar goals, albeit through conflicting strategies. There is the liberal-leaning California National Party, which seeks gradual change over many years, and there is also a decades-old push not for secession but instead for California to split up into more states united under the US Constitution.None of these efforts are taken all that seriously by the establishment in California or elsewhere, but a state with a population of 38 million to only 120 legislators and unfunded public pension programs has some problems that may be difficult to solve conventionally.</s>In this Nov. 9, 2016, file photo, Marcus Ruiz Evans, center, vice president of The Yes California Independence Campaign, talks to about California succeeding from the United States and becoming its own nation in Sacramento, Calif. Ruiz Evan's said Monday, April 17, 2017, that he notified officials that he intends to withdraw the California Nationhood ballot measure.

Start the conversation, or Read more at SFGate.</s>Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.</s>What do you do when you’re the leader of a U.S. secessionist movement losing support because you’re backed by Russia? If you’re California’s Louis Marinelli, you give up and decide to settle in Russia.

The Yes California Independence Campaign is not the only secession movement with suspected Kremlin support (Russian backing, like the stars, shines bright deep in the heart of Texas), but it is the one Marinelli championed. But backers of Yes California were put off by its ties to Russia, which seemed especially shady given that Marinelli’s physical whereabouts were unclear during the campaign. And so they pulled the proverbial plug. As the Sacramento Bee reported, “Organizers said they want to make a clean break from any push tainted by perceived links to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.”

“I have found in Russia a new happiness, a life without the albatross of frustration and resentment towards ones’ [sic] homeland, and a future detached from the partisan divisions and animosity that has thus far engulfed my entire adult life,” Marinelli wrote in a letter to his supporters on Monday, referring to the Golden State as “occupied California.”

In a December interview with Russia’s RT, everyone’s favorite state-backed news outlet, Marinelli said his strategy was to court countries with U.N. Security Council veto power, namely Russia and China, to recognize the movement even if Washington and its allies rejected it. Russian nationalists, who’ve made a hobby out of supporting secessionist movements in Europe, were happy to oblige. That month, Marinelli established a makeshift “Embassy of the Independent Republic of California” in Moscow. He’s been there ever since, but now wants to make Russia his official home.

“If the people of Russia would be so kind as to welcome me here on a permanent basis, I intend to make Russia my new home,” he wrote. No word yet on whether the Kremlin will be so kind.

But fear not, California independence supporters. He said when California gains its independence, he will return “to live once again under our bear flag.”

And Ruiz Evans, Yes California’s now former vice president, is joining the California Freedom Coalition, another Calexit political group, and hopes to file a new proposal for Californian nationhood by the end of the month — one without any Russian baggage. Evans believes his movement would have more money and backing if people weren’t worried about ties to Russia.

Setting Kremlin hijinks aside, the movement still has some numbers issues to sort out. Per state rules, the California Freedom Coalition needs 585,000 signatures to qualify for a ballot measure on independence. Yes California only has 97,463 registered supporters.

While Evans plots another campaign from his new digs, Marinelli will remain the leader of Yes California from, yes, Russia.

“Until then I will continue to serve as the representative of the Republic of California to Russia,” he concluded, not clarifying who gave him this authority or what the role would actually entail.</s>Josh Kerr obliterated his 1500 metres personal best to dip under the qualifying mark for this summer’s IAAF World Championships as the Capital prospect opened his summer season in California in style

The 19-year-old, who won the American indoor collegiate title last month, took victory at the Bryan Clay Invitational in 3:35.99 – slicing over five seconds off the previous lifetime mark he set in 2016.

The European junior champion admitted he’d set his sights on laying down an early marker for selection for London 2017, saying: “That was the goal at the back of my mind – now that’s checked off my list, I’ll get back into training and start racing properly. I wasn’t shocked by it. Obviously it’s shocked a lot of people but obviously it’s a good representation of where I am now. I had to show everybody what I could do.”

His Edinburgh AC club-mate Emily Dudgeon won the 800m at the Transatlantic Invitational in Pennsylvania in 2:08.17 while Olympic semi-finalist Chris O’Hare made his first appearance of 2017 with eighth place at the Boston 5K in 13:46
The bid for California independence ends.