Chalking Sidewalks = Terrorism
The ludicrous charges against the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act Four (AETA4) show the absolute depths to which the Green Scare has plummeted. According to the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC), the four animal liberation activists are charged with “terrorism” under the AETA for (and, we kid you not, because I could not make up something so ridiculous if I wanted to) “protesting, chalking the sidewalk, chanting and leafleting–and the alleged use of ‘the Internet to find information on bio-medical researchers.'”
That’s right–if you’re an environmentalist or animal liberation activist and you chalk on sidewalks or look up someone’s publicly available address, you too can be charged with terrorism. As of print time, their lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the charges. The Center for Constitutional Rights and CLDC joined the motion. http://aeta4.org
Eric McDavid: New Restrictions
Eric McDavid, a Green Scare prisoner who currently is serving 19 years despite being entrapped by an FBI informant and never committing any actions, is continuing to appeal his sentence. He is also fighting a legal battle over mail restrictions. According to his support group, Victorville prison in Adelanto, Calif. “has recently implemented a new, illegal mail policy that requires prisoners to submit a list of people to whom they would like to send mail.” While he is prohibited from sending mail while fighting this restriction, he can continue to receive letters. www.supporteric.org
Tre Arrow and Josh Harper Released
On June 8, Green Scare prisoner Tre Arrow was released to a half-way house in Portland, Oregon, where he is slated to stay for six months. In 2008, Arrow accepted a six-year plea bargain, which included four years time served when he was jailed in Canada fighting extradition. www.trearrow.org
Josh Harper, of the SHAC7, was released on June 17. Harper received a three-year sentence for helping run a website that encouraged protests against a company engaged in animal exploitation. He and five other activists were not sent to jailfor illegal acts such as property destruction; rather they were convicted under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act of 1992, which broadly defines illegal conduct in relationship to animal liberation politics. www.shac7.com
Operation Backfire Update
Operation Backfire was the first major Green Scare federal law enforcement operation.
According to a Portland, Oregon Indymedia.org posting by the intrepid Gumby Cascadia, Justin Solondz has been apprehended in China. He was named as a codefendant of Briana Waters concerning an action at the University of Washington. (Waters refused to cooperate with authorities, went to trial, and received six years.) Cascadia says “It is unclear at this time whether Justin will be extradited to the U.S, and/or when such a transfer would occur.” At press time, he remains listed as a fugitive by the FBI.
Meanwhile, cooperating defendant Kendall Tankersley’s appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court. She is serving three-and-a-half years, one of the shortest Green Scare sentences, for her participation in destroying the headquarters of an Oregon timber company.
Tankersley had argued that the government overstated her limited involvement in the actions and comparatively had received a harsher treatment than other snitches, such as Kevin Tubbs.
ACLU Challenges U.S. Secret Prisons
The legality of previously-secret Communication Management Units (CMUs) the federal prison system are being challenged by the ACLU. The CMUs are far more restrictive than most federal facilities. For example, inmates receive one 15-minute phone call a week, and one four-hour, non-contact visit per month. Prisoners say they have been transferred to them without warning, given no hearing, and had no opportunity to contest the transfer before they were moved.
As reported in FE 380, Green Scare prisoner Daniel McGowan’s supporters say he was transferred there as a punishment for being an outspoken activist behind bars, as well as to give the veneer of desegregation to an inmate population which is almost entirely Muslim or Arab. There are currently two confirmed units, in Terre Haute, Indiana and Marion, Illinois. A third unit for women is rumored to exist in Texas. See www.supportdaniel.org for more information on the CMUs and McGowan.
CD and T-shirt Sales to Benefit Marie
FREE MARIE CD
“Not for Profit”
Songs to defend the Earth
Marie Mason with Earth First! folksinger, Darryl Cherney–$11.50 ppd
Send remittance to Little Black Cart, PO Box 3920, Berkeley CA 94703.
All proceeds go to Marie Mason Defense Fund.
More info on CDs at www.freemarie.org
$12 postpaid from Got Your Back Collective. For downloadable zine, go to www.supportmariemason.org
“Free Marie” T-shirts
Colors: Grey, Baby Blue, Pink with black graphic and lettering.
Sizes Available: S, M, L, and XL
$15 and $2 for shipping.
Send check or money order (made out to Books for Prisoners), or well concealed cash to:
Got Your Back Collective
P.O.B. 10371
Columbus, OH 43201
Vegan Edge Hip Hop Vol, 2: World-wide vegan hip hop artists. www.veganhiphop.org
Peregrine/Auryn: Green Scare Benefit Split
Two Pittsburgh anarchist bands with a purpose: www.myspace.com/peregrinemetal
