Cameron Knight

cknight@enquirer.com

Marking three months since a Cincinnati Zoo gorilla was shot and killed after a child fell into its enclosure, Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein released a statement condemning the captivity of primates by zoos as "exploitive" and "ethically wrong."

Stein said in a tweet linking to her statement that Harambe's death should remind people to be a "voice for the voiceless," and suggested the country adopt stronger legal protections for animals.

"Non-human primates should have the legal right to live freely or, when necessary, in sanctuaries only for medical rehabilitation or ecological assistance for endangered species," she wrote in the statement. "Harambe was killed by a zoo which raises revenues by selling tickets to see captive animals, including primates.

"While good emergency staff training might have prevented such a catastrophic outcome, the Green Party believes that captivity for such entertainment is ethically wrong and fundamentally exploitive and should be illegal."

Stein visited Cincinnati in July and spoke to a crowd of about 75 at a Clifton restaurant. Her speech focused on clean energy, student loan forgiveness, free higher education and safer streets. She also was unreserved in her criticism of the two major party candidates.

"It's not just Donald Trump that would create chaos around the world," Stein said at the rally. "What Trump talks about, Hillary has already done."

According to a Pew Research poll conducted earlier this month, about 4 percent of registered voters said they would vote for Jill Stein if elections were held the day the poll was conducted. In the same poll, Hillary Clinton was drawing support from 41 percent of respondents, while 37 percent say they would vote for Donald Trump. Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson received support from 10 percent of those polled.

A third (or fourth) party will need 15 percent of the vote in the November general election to be included in certain major debates during the next presidential election cycle. Obtaining 5 percent of the vote would entitle the party to Federal Election Commission funds.

Harambe is back – in politics