WOMBLES - Green Scare

Eric McDavid Update: Government response to appeal filed, donations needed

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:54:59 +0000

from infoshop, 24 February 2010: "On Friday, February 19, the government filed their reply brief to Eric's appeal. The document they filed was 90 pages long - 90 pages of lies and slander in their continued effort to demonize Eric and justify their own inhumanity in locking a person in prison for 20 years for "thought crime. The document is full of continued attacks on Eric's character as well as misrepresentations and lies about the actual unfolding of events. All of this, combined with outrageous distortions of the law, make the government's reply a rather distasteful read..." more

A statement from recently released AETA indictee Scott DeMuth, December 2009

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:24:44 +0000

from davenportgrandjury, 14 December 2009: "For those late in the game, I was recently subpoenaed to a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa and was subsequently charged with conspiracy under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). Grand juries are secret proceedings, and those subpoenaed do not have a right to an attorney or a judge during questioning by the prosecutor. Historically, this legal process has been used in abusive ways to investigate and intimidate social movements..." more

Eric McDavid update, 13 January 2010

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:22:16 +0000

from infoshop, 13 January 2010: "Today marks the fourth year of Eric's incarceration. These are not the kind of milestones we would like to be writing about to you. While other people have been celebrating the New Year, we have been incredibly conscious of the passage of time in an entirely different way. For four years, New Years has served as a reminder to us – as it probably does to millions of others - of how long we have been separated from our loved one... more

Marie Mason: update 19 October 2009

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:23:32 +0000

from email, 19 October 2009: "You might have noticed that we’ve been quiet on Marie Mason’s situation since she has entered the federal prison system. Mostly she has been trying to adjust to life at Waseca and get her basic needs met. The good news is that she was initially assigned a job in the kitchen, but was able to be transferred to a job as a guitar instructor. Unfortunately, Marie Mason’s other needs are not being met. Mail delivery has continuously been disrupted. Contact with her appeal lawyer was halted at one point, and he had to intervene to re-establish it..." more

Peter Gelderloos: Against the War on Terrorism

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:00:31 +0000

from email, 10 June 2009: "The information reported in the section on anarchists reveals that, on the one hand, security experts in Virginia are collecting information on people like myself in over a dozen counties across the state, and on the other hand, these security experts are blundering idiots who haven't the slightest clue about anarchist theory and practice and cannot distinguish between real anarchist organizations that have been active for years and ironic fake names signed to humorous communiques and pamphlets..." more

Update on Marie Mason, April 2009

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:50:34 +0000

from supportmariemason.org, 24 April 2009: She has been assigned a job working in the kitchen... She would like to receive the following kinds of books: a calendar, a journal, language books (especially French and Spanish, which she speaks to fellow inmates), fiction, or radical history. Obviously, please do NOT send anything that advocates any illegal acts, as this may impact her negatively. Please do not send stamps or stamped envelopes to her - the prison confiscates them..." more

Between Orwell and McCarthy: The crucifixion of Marie Mason

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:24:56 +0000

from supportmariemason.org, 22 April 2009: "Fifth Estate contributor Marie Mason was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison on February 5 in a Lansing, Michigan federal courtroom, after pleading guilty to two acts of eco-sabotage. Mason is now serving the longest sentence of any environmental activist in the US... Her sentence was one of the latest in a string of recent arrests and convictions of environmental and animal liberation activists, which has been dubbed the Green Scare..." more

Secretive U.S. prison units used to house muslim, animal rights and environmental activists

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:32:04 +0000

from greenisthenewred, 16 April 2009: "The government is using secretive prison facilities on U.S. soil, called Communication Management Units, to house inmates accused of being tied to “terrorism” groups. They overwhelmingly include Muslim inmates, along with at least two animal rights and environmental activists..." more

Wikileaks: FBI report on political activist counter-intelligence

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:41:07 +0000

from wikileaks, 11 March 2009: "Wikileaks.org, the site responsible for leaking a multitude of useful documents to media and activists, has posted an article titled, "FBI: Tactics Used by Eco-Terrorists to Detect and Thwart Law Enforcement Operations, 15 Apr 2004," an appraisal of counterintelligence resources in our community. Though government intelligence is widely known to be an oxymoron, this could lend some insight into their thinking and methodology, acting as a guide to activist counter-intelligence for the animal & earth liberation movement..." more

Eric McDavid: Lockdowns, move and new address

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:16:13 +0000

from indybay, 5 March 2009: "January 2009 marked the 3rd year that Eric McDavid has spent behind bars. His arrest and imprisonment were a direct result of government infiltration and entrapment. Eric has spent the last three years of his life in a cage for what amounts to thought crime. Those years have been full of challenges and struggle. Most recently, Eric has been enduring lockdowns at the prison, the loss of phone and internet access, and a move..." more

Marie Mason sentenced to 21 years as a 'terrorist'; violent racists receive half that

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:51:57 +0000

from greenisthenewred, updated 17 February 2009: "Marie Mason, a longtime environmental activist and mother of two, was sentenced this afternoon to 21 years in prison, as a “terrorist,” for non-violent property crimes in the name of defending the environment. It’s a historic sentence, the longest yet for any of these Green Scare cases. ..." more

New Marie Mason support web site

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:05:39 +0000

from email, 20 December 2008: "Announcing a new website and listserve for Green Scare prisoner Marie Mason. Mason is facing 20+ years in prison for two acts of environmentally-motivated property destruction in which no one was injured or killed. Mason is a long-time writer for 'Fifth Estate' magazine and a former editor at the 'Industrial Worker'..." more

Eric McDavid's co-defendants sentenced to fuck all because they grassed

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:11:14 +0000

from infoshop, 17 December 2008: "On December 4, 2008, Zachary Jenson was sentenced to probation (with 6 months time served) for his conviction on a single count of Conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Jenson’s conviction was the result of a plea agreement with the government, which he signed on July 18, 2006 – 6 months after his arrest. In signing this plea agreement, Jenson agreed to full cooperation with the government against his co-defendant, Eric McDavid, as well as full cooperation in any and all investigations in which the government deemed him useful..." more

Jeff Luers interviews prisoner Grant Barnes

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:25:42 +0000

from email, 8 December 2008: Jeff asked that his interview with political prisoner Grant Barnes be sent out in lieu of dispatch this month. Grant Barnes is currently serving a 12-year sentence in Colorado for setting fire to several SUVs. The interview will also be appearing in the upcoming January/February issue of the Earth First! Journal, so be sure to check that out as well. more

SchNews: the Observer trots out police line over eco-terrorism

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:45:16 +0000

from schnews, updated 25 November 2008: The Observer launched a broadside this week against the environmental movement. Headlined “Police warn of growing threat from eco-terrorists”- handily sub-headed, “Fear of deadly attack by lone maverick as officers alert major firms to danger of green extremism” - the article goes on to allege that “Officers are concerned that a ‘lone maverick’ eco-extremist may attempt a terrorist attack aimed at killing large numbers of Britons.”

Of course not one shred of evidence is referred to in the thinly disguised puff-piece for the National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit (NETCU).

The words of an unnamed police source are all it takes to generate the spectre of carbon-neutral suicide bombings coming to a city-centre near you. more