Arsonists, yes. But are they terrorists?

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

EUGENE, Ore. - Their guilt isn't in question. The six men and four women already admitted being involved in a series of arson fires that did $40 million in damage to research facilities, a ski resort and other businesses in the West. But are they terrorists as the government says?

A federal judge was set to hear arguments Tuesday on a motion by the government to add a so-called terrorism enhancement to their sentences.

Prosecutors want Judge Ann Aiken to declare the group terrorists — something defense attorneys argue has never happened in 1,200 arsons nationwide claimed by Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front.

The defense argues that branding their clients terrorists is more about politics than sentencing.

"The Government has Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' political agenda to advance with this case, and nothing else to lose if the Court declines to impose the enhancement," wrote attorney Terri Wood, who represents Stanislas G. Meyerhoff.

Meyerhoff faces the stiffest sentence recommendation for his involvement in seven fires and the toppling of a high-tension power line. The terrorism enhancement question will be settled in his case and, under an agreement with all parties, applied to the remaining defendants. Each has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and arson.

A ruling that the 10 are terrorists is not likely to boost the time they spend behind bars — the prosecution recommends three to 16 years — but it could land them in tougher prisons.

The fires targeted forest ranger stations, meat packing plants, wild horse corrals, lumber mill offices, research facilities, an SUV dealer and, in 1998, Vail Ski Resort. No one was injured, the defense notes in legal motions.

The case, known as Operation Backfire, is the biggest prosecution ever of environmental extremists, and has turned on its head the prevailing idea that arsonists have generally acted alone, said Brent Smith, director of the Terrorism Research Center at the University of Arkansas.

"We thought these people operated for the last 15 years under this kind of uncoordinated violence approach, just like the extreme right was doing — leaderless resistance," Smith said. "That's why this case is so very different."

Prosecution filings argue that though the defendants were never convicted of terrorism, they qualify for the label because at least one of the fires each of them set was intended to change or retaliate against government policy.

link

------------------

thoughts?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Plus:

• the collateral damage from these fires to property (private or government) other than the torched
  
• the toxic pollutants these fires spewed->health risks to large numbers of people
  
• they show no remorse for these issues
  

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The terrorism label is getting overused these days IMO.

This guy was charged under terrorism laws (though not under the Patriot Act) for setting fire to an SUV dealership in CA a couple of years ago. Though they seem to be making other arguments in the OP article - that "terrorism" applies because the act was allegedly committed in protest at government policy. I guess this means they want the Patriot Act to be applied here... After all, an SUV dealership is not government affiliated...

Thought this was somewhat ironic -

Cottrell enjoys watching The O'Reilly Factor, reading The Nation; he voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger; and he often blames lazy people for society's problems

Personally speaking, I'm not sure why the existing (non-terrorism related) laws aren't sufficient for dealing with this.

Edited May 15, 2007 by erekose

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

follow up to this:

Oregon activist gets 12 years for arsons

EUGENE, Ore. - A federal judge sentenced a member of an ecoterrorism cell to more than 12 years in prison, rejecting arguments that he played a minor role in arsons aimed at saving animals and protecting the earth.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken declared that four of nine fires linked to Kevin Tubbs — a forest ranger station, a police substation, a dealership selling SUVs and a tree farm — were acts of terrorism.

"Fear and intimidation can play no part in changing the hearts and minds of people in a democracy," Aiken told Tubbs before sentencing him Thursday to 12 years and seven months in federal prison.

Tubbs, 38, is the second of member of The Family, a Eugene-based cell of the radical groups Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, to plead guilty to conspiracy and arson charges. The group is suspected in 20 arsons in five states that caused $40 million in damage.

His voice choked with emotion, Tubbs read from a statement saying he was deeply sorry for causing harm to others and that he was motivated by hopelessness and desperation over the cruelty to animals and destruction of the earth.

"I am disgusted, sickened, saddened and totally ashamed that I played any part in any of the incidents," he said.

Tubbs met the group of radical environmentalists in 1995 as they joined an encampment dedicated to stopping the U.S. Forest Service from logging trees burned by a fire, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdahl.

Tubbs regularly picked targets, recruited others and built incendiary devices, Engdahl said. When it came time to set the fires, he usually left that to others, serving as a lookout or driver, the prosecutor said.

link