Anna, the FBI Informant: Federal court jury finds Eric McDavid guilty

Green Scare | Environment / Climate Change | Social Control

Photo of "Anna",
the FBI informant

Thursday, September 27 2007: After deliberating for 11 hours over two days, a federal court jury has found Eric McDavid guilty of conspiring to blow up government and other facilities as part of an eco-terror plot.

The verdict came late Thursday [27 Sept 2007] afternoon following a trial that relied heavily on the testimony of an undercover FBI informant who was known to jurors only as "Anna" and who presented evidence of conversations McDavid and two companions had about blowing up the Nimbus Dam, a U.S. Forest Service facility in Placerville and other targets.

Prosecutors will ask that the maximum 20-year prison sentence be imposed on McDavid. Sentencing is set for Dec. 6. McDavid will remain in custody. He has been locked up since he and two co-conspirators were arrested Jan. 13, 2006.

Lauren Weiner and Zachary Jenson were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges and testified against McDavid. A status conference in connection with their sentences is scheduled Oct. 11.

[original article]

See http://www.supporteric.org for more info on supporting Eric in this difficult time.

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Background

After the arrests of Eric McDavid, Zachary Jenson and Lauren Weiner, word rapidly spread of how they had been trapped by a police provocateur using the alias "Anna".

Initially it was thought that she was a cop or FBI, but as you'll see below, she was really just an easily bribed student, infilitrating a wide variety of groups, meetings and protests and constantly feeding the info back to the FBI by mobile phone calls and text messages. She was paid at least $66,000 for betraying three young people. It is not known how much more information she passed during her "career".

See http://www.supporteric.org/ and http://www.greenscare.org. More from Portland IMC Greenscare topic

"Anna" the informant: Student's path to FBI informant

September 12, 2007. By Denny Walsh - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer: "An FBI undercover informant spun a compelling account Tuesday for a Sacramento federal court jury of how she went from being a 17-year-old Florida college student four years ago to the government's key witness in the trial of a man accused of plotting domestic terrorism."

Using alias, woman tells of alleged terrorism plot. Alleged targets: A U.S. Forest Service genetics tree lab in Placerville and the Nimbus Dam, pictured, and nearby fish hatchery in Rancho Cordova.

An FBI undercover informant spun a compelling account Tuesday for a Sacramento federal court jury of how she went from being a 17-year-old Florida college student four years ago to the government's key witness in the trial of a man accused of plotting domestic terrorism.

To shield her true identity and protect her from retribution, the woman testified only as "Anna," the alias she used in her undercover work. The judge knows her real name, as does the defense attorney, who agreed to the unusual procedure.

Dressed in a white suit and pale blue blouse, the dark-haired 21-year-old told her story in a cool, matter-of-fact manner.

She said that in the fall of 2003, as research for a class project, she dressed in "grunge" clothes and mingled with protesters at an international free trade conference.

After she presented a report to the class, the witness recalled, a fellow student who was a state law enforcement officer asked for a copy of the paper she had written about her experiences.

The paper found its way to the FBI in Miami, and she was recruited to infiltrate the "anarchist movement" that consistently has a presence at anti-establishment demonstrations, she said. The bureau's proposition that she report all violent and criminal activity she witnessed at these events "intrigued" her, she said.

"Anna" was instructed "never to assume a leadership role, never suggest anything, and give information only when asked," she testified. She kept in touch with FBI agents primarily by cellular telephone.

Between January 2004 and January 2006, the FBI paid her $31,000 in compensation and $35,000 to cover her expenses traveling the country from protest to protest and from one "anarchist" meeting to another. She said she wore the "dirtiest, smelliest" clothes she could find, dyed her hair every color of the rainbow, and never wore makeup or jewelry.

Her first assignment was the 2004 Group of Eight, or G8, summit in Georgia. The organization is a forum for the governments of eight major countries, including the United States. Its annual summit is attended by the heads of government of the member countries.

"Anna" next was a demonstrator at the Democratic National Convention in Boston and later the Republican National Convention in New York City.

She met the defendant in the Sacramento trial, Eric McDavid, at an "anarchist" conference in summer 2004 in Des Moines, Iowa. The main item on the conference's agenda was "sharing skills on how to spot undercover law enforcement people."

"At that time, I thought he was inconsequential," the witness said of McDavid.

The 29-year-old McDavid, of Foresthill, is charged with conspiring to damage and destroy property, including government facilities, by means of fire and explosives. His alleged targets included a U.S. Forest Service genetics tree lab in Placerville and the Nimbus Dam and nearby fish hatchery in Rancho Cordova.

"Anna" testified that McDavid envisioned a nationwide bombing campaign against perceived enemies of the environment for which he would credit the Earth Liberation Front. The FBI has identified ELF as a terrorist movement dedicated to violent attacks on what its followers believe are symbols of society's destruction and exploitation of the environment.

"Anna" testified that McDavid invited her into his conspiracy, along with Zachary Jenson, a transient and regular on the demonstration circuit who was then 19, and Lauren Weiner, a student at the Philadelphia College of Arts who was then 18.

Wearing a body recorder, driving a car rigged with video and audio recording equipment, and living with the trio in an isolated cabin in Dutch Flat that the FBI wired for video and audio recording before they moved in, "Anna" recorded hours of conversations about possible bombing targets, recipes for homemade explosive devices and the purchase of material needed to make the bombs.

Jenson and Weiner have pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy and are expected to testify against McDavid in return for leniency when they are sentenced.

On Jan. 12, 2006, "Anna" had a bad day. On a trip in her car from Dutch Flat to Auburn a recording device popped out of the dashboard. McDavid cradled it in his hand and looked at it with some curiosity.

She grabbed the device from him and shoved it back in the dashboard and used a profanity to describe her vehicle's mechanical state.

It was especially unnerving because McDavid had once told her he would kill her with the hunting knife he always carried if she turned out to be an undercover law enforcement operative, she testified.

On the return trip, "Anna" ran a stop sign on the Interstate 80 offramp at Dutch Flat and was pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer, who let her go with a warning.

The others were apoplectic at having been stopped by a law enforcement officer so close to where they were living.

Back at the cabin, "Anna" and Weiner quarreled, and the witness testified she felt like she was being treated as an outsider.

"My stress level was such that I didn't feel like I could continue in my role," she recalled.

That evening she walked to where FBI agents were watching the cabin and told them she didn't believe she could go on. They assured her they would arrest her three companions the next day, and they did.

[original article]

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Eco-terrorist suspect's trial begins

Attorney says Foresthill man was set up by FBI informant

By: Penne Usher, Journal Staff Writer

Monday, September 10, 2007: A Sacramento attorney said his client, an accused eco-terrorist, is a victim of entrapment by the FBI.

But prosecutors say they caught an eco-terrorist in the act of planning to bomb U.S. government buildings.

Those claims and more highlight the trial for accused eco-terrorist Eric McDavid, of Foresthill, which began Monday in a Sacramento courtroom.

McDavid, 29, was arrested Jan. 13, 2006 along with Zachary Jenson, 21, of Monroe Wash. and Lauren Weiner, 21, of Philadelphia. All were charged with conspiracy to destroy government buildings.

Weiner entered into a plea agreement May 30, 2006 and Jensen pleaded guilty July 18, 2006, Rosemary Shaul, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday.

The two are scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 11 in federal court.

FBI officials have said the arrest was based on evidence that the trio was plotting on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front to destroy unspecified cell phone towers, power-generation facilities and U.S. Forest Service facilities.

The three suspected eco-terrorists were seen by surveillance teams scouting out the Nimbus Dam and fish hatchery in Folsom and had visited the U.S. Forest Service structures near Placerville.

ELF is a recognized eco-terrorist group comprised of "cells," or small numbers of environmental extremists who use arson and explosive devices to target government, commercial and residential facilities.

A female informant working for the FBI infiltrated the eco-terrorist group's local cell, according to court documents. The foursome was video- and audiotaped at an Auburn-area cabin pre-wired with surveillance equipment by the FBI.

McDavid, Jenson and Weiner reportedly discussed possible targets, reconnaissance missions and what supplies would be needed to make bombs.

McDavid's Sacramento attorney, Mark Reichel, said his client and the other two suspects are not only victims of entrapment by the FBI, but also an informant. "She bullied and cajoled McDavid and his co-defendants into this plan that she hatched and kept alive," Reichel said in a released statement. "McDavid now faces 20 years in prison for a crime that was never committed."

He said that the FBI paid the 17-year-old confidential informant about $75,000 for infiltrating activist groups and "spying" on gathering across the country.

McDavid remains incarcerated in the Sacramento County Jail pending trial.

Reichel claims the FBI's case was "fabricated."

"The government should never be involved in the manufacturing of crime," he said.

The 2006 arrest came just a year after four eco-terror suspects were arrested in connection with multiple fire-bomb attempts.

Four firebombs were found at the Twelve Bridges development in Lincoln on Dec. 27, 2004, and five incendiary devices were found at an Auburn office building under construction Jan. 12. 2005. An apartment complex in Sutter Creek was burned Feb. 7. All were connected to the Earth Liberation Front.

Ryan Lewis, 23, of Newcastle, pleaded guilty Oct. 14, 2005 in federal court to two counts of attempted arson and one count of arson in connection with the planting of incendiary devices in Placer and Amador counties.

Eva Holland, 26, and her sister Lili Holland, 21, also of Newcastle, pleaded guilty to a count of attempted arson.

Additionally, an "incendiary device" was found on the steps of the Placer County Historic Courthouse in Old Town Auburn Feb. 13, 2005 and another similar device was located behind the Auburn office of the Department of Motor Vehicles. No one has been arrested in connection with those two plantings.

[original article]

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