Humboldt Revolution

Those arrested on December 7, 2005, and subsequent sweeps, were accused
of property destruction intended to preserve the environment and animal
life. Despite the fact that none of the arrestees were accused of injury
to any human or animal, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the
corporate-dominated Bush administration described the accused as being the
nation’s number-one domestic terrorist threat. Several of those arrested
entered plea deals in the District of Oregon to avoid sentences in excess
of 1,000 years. Briana Waters, violin instructor and the mother of a young
child, still faces trial in Washington federal court and asserts her
innocence on all counts. Several individuals are currently being sought by
federal law enforcement and are believed to be out of the country. One of
the accused died of an apparent suicide late last year while being held in
an Arizona jail. The government asserts that this witch hunt is ongoing
and has no end in sight.

Operation Backfire arrests are the capstone of a broader “Green Scare”
which is strikingly similar to the Red Scare of the 1940s and ’50s. The
phrase “Green Scare” has been used to include not just the cases from the
Operation Backfire indictments, but also the cases of Tre Arrow, the
SHAC7, the Auburn 3, and Rodney Coronado, as well as recent legislation
such as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which identifies non-violent
activism as acts of terrorism if it reduces the profitability of
exploitive corporations.

Responding to this repression, supporters designated today, December 7,
as an International Day of Solidarity with Green Scare Indictees,
Detainees, and Political Prisoners. Forty-four events in eight different
countries have now been scheduled to take place on or around this day.

An Overview of the Eco-Sabotage Cases

On December 7, 2005, one of the largest roundups of environmental and
animal liberation activists in American history began. Using the code name
“Operation Backfire,” the FBI arrested seven people in four different
states. Chelsea Gerlach, Darren Thurston, William Rodgers, Kendall
Tankersley (Sarah Kendall Harvey), Kevin Tubbs, Daniel McGowan and
Stanislas Meyerhoff were arrested for allegedly taking part in a wide
variety of actions the government attributes to the Earth Liberation Front
(ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). On that very same day,
several people across the Pacific Northwest were subpoenaed to testify
before a grand jury to be convened in Eugene, Oregon. One of those taken
into custody, Darren Thurston (a Canadian citizen), was served with a
subpoena and later indicted in U.S. District Court with federal conspiracy
charges and charges related to the arson of a horse corral near
Susanville, California. Within days of
the first arrests it was revealed that a paid informant, Jacob Ferguson,
admitted to participating in several arsons and given federal
investigators and prosecutors information which allegedly supported the
indictments. It was also revealed that Meyerhoff had agreed to be a
federal cooperating witness almost immediately upon arrest and
interrogation.

On December 22, William Rodgers was found dead in his jail cell in
Flagstaff, Arizona, from an apparent suicide. Rodgers worked at the
Catalyst Bookstore and Infoshop in Prescott, Arizona, and was involved in
ecological struggles for many years in different parts of the United
States.

On January 20, 2006, federal prosecutors and U.S. Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales announced a sweeping 65-count indictment, including two
conspiracy charges, against 11 individuals relating to 17 different
incidents in Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado and California. The
indictment alleged that the accused were members of a fictional network,
referred to in the indictments as “The Family,” and that they had
conspired to commit several acts of arson. The indictment charged various
defendants with arson, attempted arson, and using and carrying a
destructive device. The destructive device charge, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c),
carries a 30-year mandatory sentence, with a mandatory life sentence for a
second conviction of this charge. The government used this charge and the
conspiracy charge to coerce individuals to become informants by
threatening them with multiple life sentences for acts of uninhabited
property destruction. In addition to the six people arrested on December
7, the Oregon indictment also named Jonathan Paul, Suzanne Savoie, Joseph
Dibee, Rebecca Rubin (Canadian citizen) and Josephine Overaker. Paul was
arrested in Oregon a few days before the indictment was announced, and
Savoie turned herself in soon after Paul’s arrest. Dibee, Rubin and
Overaker are believed to be out of the country.

In the weeks that followed, the government coerced and intimidated the
defendants with various threats — primarily, life in prison. Five
individuals were then revealed as “confidential sources” for the
government’s case. Subsequently, on February 23, Nathan Fraser Block and
Joyanna L. Zacher were arrested in Olympia, Washington. The government
issued a new indictment on March 15 which included Block and Zacher who
were held in custody and facing life plus 1,115 years in prison for their
minor roles in two separate arsons.

On June 28, the government arraigned non-cooperating defendants Block,
Zacher, McGowan and Paul on yet another 65-count superseding indictment.

On July 20 and 21, Thurston, Tubbs, Tankersley, Meyerhoff, Gerlach and
Savoie pled guilty to a variety of conspiracy, arson and attempted arson
charges in U.S. District Court in Eugene. Federal prosecutors
recommended that Thurston be sentenced to 37 months imprisonment; Tubbs,
168 months; Tankersley, 51 months; Meyerhoff, 188 months; Gerlach, 120
months; and Savoie, 63 months. All remaining charges against these
defendants will be waived, and no additional charges will be brought
against them in other districts if they fully and completely cooperate
with the government’s terms of cooperation. The presiding judge granted
motions by the cooperating defendants’ attorneys to seal all plea
petitions, cooperation agreements, and the transcripts of the public court
hearings, thus making them unavailable for public scrutiny. On August 22,
upon the motion of the
non-cooperating defendants, this judge granted a motion to unseal these
documents but for the paragraphs regarding cooperation.

During the two days of plea deal hearings, the government announced that
it would pursue upward enhancement of sentences for the six taking pleas,
arguing that the federal anti-terrorism enhancement guidelines apply to
their sentences as well. At the request of the federal government, Gerlach
made an unusual statement at the conclusion of her plea proceeding,
denouncing her actions. At the hearings of Gerlach and Meyerhoff, the
government disclosed new allegations indicating additional arson incidents
alleged to have occurred in Phoenix, Arizona, and the eastern district of
Michigan, though neither was charged with these incidents at this time.

Several months earlier, Daniel McGowan’s attorneys filed a motion on
behalf of the non-cooperating defendants compelling the government to
disclose whether the National Security Agency (NSA) had conducted
illegal surveillance and monitoring during the investigation. The
government acknowledged that it did not know whether such surveillance
existed, and the Court ordered the government to file a response to the
motion.

On November 9, the remaining District of Oregon defendants Joyanna
Zacher, Nathan Block, Daniel McGowan and Jonathan Paul entered a global
resolution plea deal. (Note: Briana Waters is not indicted in Oregon. She
is the only non-cooperating defendant in the Washington indictment and
vigorously asserts her innocence.) Prior to their formal plea
hearings, the four defendants withdrew their NSA motion, [Briana Waters’
defense team continues to pursue a similar NSA motion in her District of
Washington case. No court hearings or rulings have been issued at this
time.] In the non-cooperation plea agreements, the four defendants agreed
to accept responsibility for their own roles in environmentally motivated
property crimes, but do not agree to provide information or testify
against anyone now or in the future. Complete, non-redacted plea
agreements for these four defendants are publicly available.

During the November 9 plea hearing, Joyanna Zacher and Nathan Block each
pled to one count of conspiracy, attempted arson, plus multiple arson
charges from actions at the Joe Romania Chevrolet car dealership in Eugene
and the Jefferson Poplar tree farm. Daniel McGowan entered a plea to one
conspiracy charge plus multiple charges of arson relating to sabotage at
Superior Lumber and Jefferson Poplar. The government is recommending that
these three be sentenced to 96 months in federal prison. Jonathan Paul
pled to one count of conspiracy and one count of arson for his minor role
in the property destruction at the Cavel West horse slaughterhouse. He
received a suggested sentence of 60 months in prison. During the hearing,
McGowan made a statement to the court that “this plea agreement is very
important to me because it allows me to accept full responsibility for my
actions and at the same time remain true to my strongly held beliefs.”
Outside the courthouse, Jonathan Paul’s sister Alexandra Paul read a statement that her brother “will continue to be a person deeply committed to the betterment of our
society and the elimination of animal and human suffering.”

As with the other defendants, the government has indicated it will seek
the “terrorism” enhancement at sentencing, which could result in up to 20
additional years of imprisonment. A status hearing to determine sentencing
dates for all of the Oregon defendants will take place in Eugene on
December 14 at 9:45 a.m. Just before that, at 9 a.m., Gerlach and
Meyerhoff are scheduled to enter guilty pleas to additional out-of-state
prosecutions.

Savoie, Tankersley, McGowan, and Paul are all out on release pending
their sentencing. All other persons indicted in the District of Oregon who
have been located are currently in custody.

On October 4, two informants, Jennifer Kolar and Lacey Phillabaum, pled
guilty to felony charges of conspiracy, arson, and use of a destructive
device during a violent act, all in relation to the University of
Washington fires. They also agreed to be responsible for paying
restitution to UW and victims, if any, with the specific amounts of which
yet to be determined. Kolar’s recommended sentence is 5-7 years for her
role in multiple arsons. Phillabaum’s recommended sentence is 3-5 year
for her role in UW arson. Both women have been cooperating with the FBI
extensively and are free until their sentencing dates.

The case was originally started not by law enforcement efforts, but
solely by a single informant, Jacob Ferguson, a heroin addict and
life-long arsonist and petty criminal. The indictments were a result of
statements provided to the FBI by Ferguson, Stanislas Meyerhoff and others
were coerced into making similar statements upon capture and
interrogation. Ferguson and Meyerhoff have admitted to their participation
in most of the alleged arsons and have admitted leadership roles. The
National Lawyers Guild recently came out in strong opposition to the
unconstitutional life sentences for property crimes threatened in these
cases, and stated that the “government is misusing destructive device
charges an d engaging inselective prosecution.”

***
Misuse of Grand Juries
On March 21, Camilo Stephenson was subpoenaed to a Denver, Colorado,
grand jury and questioned about the 1998 Vail ski resort fire. He denied
any knowledge of any of the incidents.

Jeff Hogg and Burke Morris were subpoenaed to testify in front of
federal grand juries on May 18, Hogg in Eugene, and Morris in Denver. Hogg
refused to testify before the Eugene grand jury, and was held in contempt
by Judge Michael Hogan and sent to jail. Hogg was then placed in custody,
without having being charged with any crime. The unlawful grand jury was
scheduled to expire on September 29, 2006. However, days before Jeff was
to regain his freedom, the federal government extended this grand jury for
six more months.

After more than six months and following the global resolution of the
remaining District of Oregon cases on November 9, the government finally
agreed to free Hogg. On November 15, Hogg was released from the
Josephine County jail in Grant’s Pass, Oregon, rejoining his partner and
community. Hogg commented shortly after release: “I’m happy to be free and
not to have compromised my principles in the face of the abusive grand
jury system.” The government continues to threaten Hogg with another
subpoena and more jail time.

In Colorado on May 28, Burke Morris answered limited questions asked by
the Denver grand jury about his personal life, but denied any knowledge of
other incidents he was questioned about. Morris later issued a statement:
“I have the utmost respect for Jeff Hogg and hope all will support him
during his incarceration for refusing to answer grand jury questions.”

On June 27, Jim Dawson of Olympia, WA, received a subpoena to appear
before a grand jury at the Federal District Courthouse in Seattle, WA.
This subpoena most likely came about as a result of his partner, Heather
Moore, who had been contacted by the FBI a few months earlier. His
appearance has been postponed because he consented to be questioned by the
FBI in lieu of his scheduled grand jury appearance. The extent of his
disclosure to the government is unknown at this time. As a result of this
voluntary cooperation, additional subpoenas are possible.

The federal government for now has called off Craig Rosebraugh’s grand
jury subpoena.

Grand juries by law are authorized only to decide whether or not to
bring new indictments. In this case, grand juries are being used to gather
evidence to prepare for trial, an illegal use of the grand jury as defined
by law. This runaway grand jury has been convened around the country
regarding this case and the larger environmental movement since 2000.

California Indictments
On April 6, California issued its indictments in connection with the
2001 horse corral fire near Susanville, CA. Justin Solondz was charged by
the federal court in Sacramento, but is not in custody. Also indicted for
the corral fire were Darren Thurston (whose plea on this charge was
integrated into his general District of Oregon deal as a result of
cooperation), Joseph Dibee and Rebecca Rubin.

Colorado Indictments
On May 18, a federal grand jury indicted Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, Stanislas
Meyerhoff, Josephine Overaker and Rebecca Rubin for alleged involvement in
the 1998 arson of the Vail ski resort. The Colorado federal court agreed
to transfer these charges to Oregon where Gerlach and Meyerhoff have
District of Oregon plea deals that incorporate their Colorado charges. On
September 29, Gerlach and Meyerhoff entered guilty pleas during their
District of Oregon arraignment for Vail-related charges; neither Meyerhoff
nor Gerlach are expected to serve additional time in prison as a
consequence of these pleas. Meyerhoff and Gerlach swore in court that Bill
Rodgers was solely responsible for this alleged arson.

Washington Indictments
On March 30, Briana Waters was arrested in Seattle, WA, in connection
with an alleged arson at the University of Washington Center for Urban
Horticulture in 2001. Waters, a California resident, is a violin
teacher and mother of a young child. Waters was released from custody on
March 31 and has a court date set for May 7, 2007. She staunchly
maintains her innocence to all charges.

On May 10, Washington issued a superseding indictment. This indictment
includes the destructive device charge, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), a 30-year
mandatory sentence, for Waters. The indictment also added Tubbs and
Solondz as defendants (with Bill Rodgers’ alleged participation) for the
UW arson. Tubbs’ Washington charges are waived as a result of his plea
deal.

Other informants in this case include Jennifer Kolar, of Seattle, WA,
and Lacey Phillabaum of Spokane, WA. On October 4, both Kolar and
Phillabaum entered plea deals in the Western Washington U.S. District
Court, pleading guilty to conspiracy, arson and destructive device charges
in relation to the Urban Horticulture property damage. In
addition, Kolar pled guilty to charges relating to an attempted arson
against the Wray Gun Club, sponsors of a turkey shoot, whose Colorado
business allegedly had incendiary devices placed nearby (the alleged
devices failed to ignite) — Kolar’s Colorado charges were transferred to
the Western Washington District before the hearing. Charges against Kolar
in relation to an alleged arson in Redmond, Oregon against a horse-meat
processing plant, will also be transferred to Washington federal court
soon. During the hearing, Kolar received a suggested sentence of 5-7 years
in federal prison despite facing a mandatory life sentence, Phillabaum,
3-5 years. Formal sentencing for Kolar and Phillabaum is currently
scheduled for January 5, 2007. Both Kolar and Phillabaum were released
without bail following their pleas. Both have been provided significant
reductions in their recommended sentences as a result of extensive
cooperation with the federal government against the remaining
non-cooperating defendants.

Charges Against Rod Coronado In a related but separate case, federal
prosecutors in San Diego unsealed an indictment in February 2006,
charging environmental and Native American activist Rodney Coronado with
demonstrating how to use an incendiary device. After a lecture in 2003,
Coronado, 39, of Tucson, Arizona,answered a question about how he made an
incendiary device used in an action that he had spent four years in
federal prison for several years ago. Coronado was charged with
distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices
and weapons of mass destruction. On November 2, Coronado’s lawyer argued
that the statute under which Coronado was charged violates the First and
Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. On November 15, the judge
denied this motion, stating that this statute is not unconstitutional in
all its applications. However, arguments as to whether the statute as
applied to Coronado himself is illegal will be heard at trial.

Coronado is currently in federal custody as a result of a federal
conviction regarding his attempt to stop a mountain lion hunt by the
federal government.

Support the Operation Backfire Defendants and Grand Jury Resistance!

District of Oregon Daniel McGowan, Jonathan Paul, Nathan Block and
Joyanna Zacher have taken plea deals that do not involve informing against
others. Joyanna and Nathan remain in jail pre-sentencing. Please continue
to support these four, before and after formal sentencing :
Nathan Block #1663667 / Lane County Jail / 101 W 5th Ave. / Eugene, OR
97401
Joyanna Zacher #1662550 / Lane County Jail / 101 W 5th Ave / Eugene, OR
97401
Support group for Nathan and Joyanna:
supportersofnathanandjoyanna@gmail.com
Daniel McGowan (Released on bail!)
Support group: FriendsofDanielMcG@yahoo.com; www.supportdaniel.org
Jonathan Paul (Released on bail!)
Support group: friendsofjonathanpaul@yahoo.com

Non-cooperating Defendant, Washington Indictments Briana Waters
(Released on court-ordered electronic monitoring)
Support group: http://www.supportbriana.org/

Grand Jury Resistance Donations to help Jeff Hogg post-release may be
sent to:
Friends of Jeff Hogg / PO Box 12271 / Eugene, OR 97440
One good information resource on grand juries and resistance to them is
at: http://www.fbiwitchhunt.com/. This page also features information on
Bay Area grand juries.

Stay Informed - Information Resources For more information see
http://cldc.org/,
http://greenscare.org/ and
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/topic/greenscare/

The following is the aforementioned attachment;

Endemic: The Move To Label All Civil Disobedience “Terrorism”
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act makes peaceful protesters terrorists

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Friday, December 1, 2006

An endemic crackdown on peaceful protest and dissent has continued with President Bush signing the ‘Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act,’. Under the guise of protecting researchers, scientists and their staff who conduct experiments and tests on animals, the latest terror bill seeks to class as “terrorists” those who seek to protest against such activities.

The bill expands criminal prohibitions against the use of force, violence, and threats involving animal enterprises and increases penalties for violations of these prohibitions. The operative term being “threats”, because what an activist may see as protesting may be construed under the law to be threatening.

The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent in September, just prior to the Congressional recess. A similar bill, H.R. 4239, was approved by the House of Representatives this month.

“It’s depressing to know that, just because of our beliefs involving animals, we are going to be branded terrorists if we protest,” said Lori Nitzel, a Madison attorney and executive director of Alliance for Animals, a statewide group that pledges nonviolence.

Nitzel wonders if even the kind of leafleting the group did Friday near a Madison fur store could be construed as illegal. The bill can impose punishment if an animal enterprise suffers “economic damage.”

“We are, in fact, hoping to cause economic damage to the store,” Nitzel said.

One report states that backers of the bill say opponents are trying to alarm people with wacky what-ifs. Unfortunately with the government’s track record, with any piece of legislation like this you have to ask “what if?”.

Without getting into a debate about animal testing itself, the real issue of concern here is the term “terrorism”. The push to merge crime and terrorism laws can be no clearer than in this case.
What happens if down the line terrorism legislation begins to be combined? Suddenly you end up with a number of animal rights “terrorists” who can be labeled as enemy combatants and detained without trial.

The more crimes that become “terrorism”, the more people you can label as terrorists and treat in the same way. Every time a piece of legislation like this becomes law, the more the Bill of rights is eroded and free speech is restricted.

“The frightening thing for me is that it heavily criminalizes civil disobedience, and just for animal rights activists,” Lori Nitzel says. Nitzel is right, however, there are plenty more moves afoot to criminalize other forms of civil disobedience.

We have previously documented cases where those who attend antiwar demonstrations or Quaker meetings have been monitored and placed on a Pentagon database as possible threats. Think about that for a minute, the military is monitoring peaceful US citizens who do not agree with illegal warfare and placing them on a list of possible enemies.

We have previously reported multiple times on how the intelligence and law enforcement agencies have “domestic-terrorism files” into which peaceful protesters have been placed. These are not isolated incidents.

The precedent is set, if you protest you go on the subversive list and you’ll be first into the forced labor camps when a city or two gets nuked.

Of course, we have known for a long time that The renewed and extended Patriot Act will target protesters and allow secret services a wider latitude at public events. Penalties for such violations would increase from six months to a year in prison.

The Patriot Act as we have exhaustively documented is the key police state weapon the authorities have in their armory. The party line often heard from Neo-Cons in their attempts to defend the Patriot Act either circulate around the contention that the use of the Patriot Act has never been abused or that it isn’t being used against American citizens. The Legislation’s reach HAS gone beyond terrorism and it IS actively being used to target American citizens.

The most recent example of a U.S. citizen being targeted using terror legislation involved BBC investigative journalist Greg Palast, who was pursued by Homeland Security and charged with unauthorized filming of a “critical national security structure,” (an Exxon Oil refinery that was readily available to anyone with an Internet connection at Google Maps), under PATRIOT Act legislation. The charge was later dropped after an activist outcry.

Remember, section 802 is specifically aimed at US citizens and announces any crime as “domestic terrorism”. Citizens can be held without a trial as “Enemy Combatants”

The Washington Post recently reported “The Bush administration is developing a parallel legal system in which terrorism suspects — U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike — may be investigated, jailed, interrogated, tried and punished without legal protections guaranteed by the ordinary system, lawyers inside and outside the government say.”

Also under the Patriot Act police are authorized to impose “Free Speech Zones”.

Top legal experts and scholars are nearly unanimous that the Military Commissions Act, another piece of Constitution shredding terror legislation, also affects American citizens.

Yale Law Professor Bruce Ackerman states in the L.A. Times, “The compromise legislation….authorizes the president to seize American citizens as enemy combatants, even if they have never left the United States. And once thrown into military prison, they cannot expect a trial by their peers or any other of the normal protections of the Bill of Rights.”

The endemic movement to kill off free speech has spread to Britain too. Free Speech Zones were also introduced in Britain last year, making it illegal to protest outside parliament. The new draconian laws forbid spontaneous free speech within a one-kilometre radius of the House of Commons.

Last year the Scotland Sunday Herald reported that the British Government was considering just banning protest altogether after a major terror attack and making it against the law to criticize the government in a State of emergency.

Both Britain and Australia also have domestic surveillance databases that gather the information of anyone who criticizes them or who they consider to be subversive

Everywhere we look the First Amendment is under attack. It seems that legislation is being passed daily, each bill tearing away at fundamental rights and condemning another form of protest as terrorism. It has got to the point for the government where what is being protested is less of an issue than the act of protest itself which they clearly see as the real threat

Source:
http://www.infowars.net/articles/december2006/011206terror_legislation.htm

–
“The wild, cruel animal is not behind the bars of a cage. He is in front of it.”