Green Scare - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Green Scare, alluding to the Red Scare

Red Scare

Durrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...

s periods of fear over communist infiltration of US society, is a term popularized by environmental activists to refer to legal action by the US government against the radical environmental movement

Environmental movement

The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....

.

It is first known to have appeared in 2002 in the wake of the February 12 congressional hearings titled "The Threat of Eco-Terrorism" which discussed groups including the Earth Liberation Front

Earth Liberation Front

The Earth Liberation Front , also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".The ELF was founded...

(ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front

Animal Liberation Front

The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...

(ALF). The spring edition of a prisoner support zine

Zine

A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....

or newsletter, Spirit of Freedom defined the term as "the tactics that the US government and all their tentacles (FBI, IRS, BATF, Joint Terrorism Task Force

Joint Terrorism Task Force

A Joint Terrorism Task Force is a partnership between various U.S. law enforcement agencies that is charged with taking action against terrorism, which includes the investigation of crimes such as wire fraud and identity theft...

s, local police, the court system) are using to attack the ELF/ALF and specifically those who publicly support them."

The term has been used by activists to describe a sweep of arrests, convictions and grand jury

Grand jury

A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...

indictments of ELF and ALF operatives on charges relating to acts of property damage

Property damage

Property damage is damage to or the destruction of public or private property, caused either by a person who is not its owner or by natural phenomena. Property damage caused by persons is generally categorized by its cause: neglect , and intentional damage...

, conspiracy

Conspiracy (crime)

In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...

, arson

Arson

Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

and use of destructive device

Destructive device

In the United States, a destructive device is a firearm or explosive device regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934.Examples of destructive devices include grenades, and firearms with a bore over one half of an inch, including some semi-automatic shotguns. While current federal laws allow...

Cases

Since 2000, the US government has prosecuted over 20 cases involving environmentalist

Environmentalist

An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...

s, which Los Angeles CityBeat
Los Angeles CityBeat
Los Angeles CityBeat was an alternative weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, California, debuting June 12, 2003. The publication ceased production with the March 26, 2009 issue. LA CityBeat was available every Thursday at more than 1,500 distribution locations throughout the Los Angeles area, with an...

claims "redefined not only free speech, but also redefined environmentally motivated property destruction - like torching Hummer

Hummer

Hummer was a brand of trucks and SUVs, first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. In 1998, General Motors purchased the brand name and marketed three vehicles: the original Hummer H1, based on the Humvee; and the H2 and H3 models that were...

s or tree-felling equipment" These arrests, indictments and trials, which have collectively been termed the Green Scare by environmentalist

Environmentalist

s, include:

Individuals

Rod Coronado

Rodney Adam Coronado is a Native American eco-anarchist and animal rights activist. He is an advocate and former activist for the Animal Liberation Front and a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front...

, a prominent Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

eco-anarchist, who was arrested on a felony charge of demonstrating the use of a destructive device. His indictment indirectly related to an August 1, 2003 fire in San Diego

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

that destroyed an apartment complex causing an estimated $50 million worth of damage. Coronado, a self-described "unofficial ELF spokesman", stood trial in 2007. After two days of deliberations, the jury remained deadlocked so the judge declared a mistrial. He subsequently entered a guilty plea and accepted a deal for a one year prison term.

Jeff "Free" Luers

Jeff Luers

Jeffrey "Free" Luers is an political activist from Los Angeles, California, who served a ten year prison sentence for arson in the U.S. state of Oregon. On February 14, 2007, The Oregon Court of Appeals overturned Luers' sentence, instructing the Lane County circuit court to determine a new sentence...

, a veganarchist from Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, who served a prison sentence of almost ten years for arson

Arson

Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

. His initial sentence was over 22 years, but the Oregon Court of Appeals

Oregon Court of Appeals

The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has ten judges and is located in Salem...

overturned it, and the Lane County Circuit Court determined a new sentence of 10 years in February 2008, after what The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

described as an "international campaign for a more appropriate sentence for a crime in which no one was hurt." In 2000 he set fire to three SUVs at Romania Chevrolet dealership in Eugene, Oregon

Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...

as a protest against excessive consumption and global warming

Global warming

Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

. He has become a cause célèbre

Cause célèbre

A is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...

among some radicals, anti-prison activists

Prison abolition movement

The prison abolition movement seeks to abolish prisons and the prison system. The movement advocates for the abolition of prisons and the prison system on the basis of it being ineffective. Prison abolitionists present a broad critique of the modern criminal justice system, which they believe to...

, and people associated with the Earth Liberation Front, although Luers has said that he does not consider himself an ELF member. Upon his resentencing, Judge Billings said that he expected Luers would be treated as an "elder statesman" among some activists, and hoped that Luers would use that influence in a productive way. Luers declared that he was looking forward to "promoting activism through legal means."

Christopher McIntosh, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for setting fire to a Seattle McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

restaurant in January, 2003. McIntosh admitted guilt as part of a plea agreement, in which the prosecution said they would not ask that he spend more than ten years in prison. Supporters criticized the sentence as excessive "for someone who caused $5,000 damage". Prosecutors argued it was important to "protect the public" from some one who expressed no remorse, saying McIntosh was "proud of his crime, and, given the chance, he would do the same thing again."
Peter Daniel Young

Peter Daniel Young

Peter Daniel Young is an American animal rights activist. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1998 on charges related to fur farm raids in Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin in 1997. He was in hiding for seven years, before being arrested in San Jose and sentenced to two years' imprisonment...

and a friend, Justin Samuel, who were indicted in by a federal grand jury in September 1998 on four charges of "Extortion by Interfering with Interstate Commerce", and two charges of "Animal Enterprise Terrorism". They released over 8,000 animals from various fur farms in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

, and Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

and disposed of the breeding records at each farm. Samuel was arrested on September 4, 1999 in Belgium and was extradited to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

to face trial. He agreed to cooperate with the government in exchange for a reduced sentence of two years. Young was arrested in San Jose

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

on March 21, 2005 on charges of shoplifting

Shoplifting

Shoplifting is theft of goods from a retail establishment. It is one of the most common property crimes dealt with by police and courts....

from a local Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...

and was extradited to Wisconsin to face trial for the fur farm raids. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison; 360 hours of community service at a charity; $254,000 restitution; and one year probation.

Eric McDavid

Eric McDavid

Eric McDavid, , is a green anarchist and vegan convicted of conspiring to use fire or explosives to damage corporate and government property. While U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott has called McDavid the first person in the U.S...

, Lauren Weiner and Zachary Jenson, who were arrested in Auburn, California

Auburn, California

Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, California. Its population at the 2010 census was 13,330. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history.Auburn is part of the Greater Sacramento area.- History :...

, and charged with conspiring to damage telephone towers, the Nimbus Dam

Nimbus Dam

The Nimbus Dam is a base load hydroelectric dam on the American River near Folsom, California. Approximately of water is retained by the dam.- External links :* fact sheet - United States Bureau of Reclamation* - parks.ca.gov...

, and Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

facilities "by explosive or fire". Prosecutors allege the FBI recorded one of the suspects suggesting anti-personnel shrapnel be added to the planned bombs. According to the FBI affidavit, evidence against the three came from a paid "confidential source (CS) who is deeply embedded within the subjects' cell. The CS had worked for the FBI since early 2004 and agreed to testify in court."

Groups

SHAC 7, six animal rights

Animal rights

Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...

activists, who were found guilty of using their website to incite threats, harassment

Harassment

Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...

, vandalism and attacks against the company Huntingdon Life Sciences

Huntingdon Life Sciences

Huntingdon Life Sciences is a contract animal-testing company founded in 1952 in England, with facilities in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire; Eye, Suffolk; New Jersey in the U.S., and Japan...

and their business partners. Originally seven individuals were charged, leading sympathizers to describe the defendants as the SHAC 7, but the case against one of the defendants was dropped. Pamelyn Ferdin

Pamelyn Ferdin

Pamelyn Ferdin is a former American television and film child actor, active both in live action and as a voice actress in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and has since appeared in several voice acting roles as late as 2009...

, the current president of SHAC USA

Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty

Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty is an international animal rights campaign to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences , Europe's largest contract animal-testing laboratory. HLS tests medical and non-medical substances on around 75,000 animals every year, from rats to primates...

, told the jury that "for the government to say you can't say this and you can't say that is going down a very scary path of going toward fascism

Fascism

Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

." However, the US Attorney's Office described the convicts as "thugs who went far beyond protected speech and lawful protest to engage in and incite intimidation, harassment and violence." The judge sentenced the individuals to an aggregate of 24 years in prison, and ordered to pay a joint restitution

Restitution

The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery. It is to be contrasted with the law of compensation, which is the law of loss-based recovery. Obligations to make restitution and obligations to pay compensation are each a type of legal response to events in the real world. When a court...

of $1,000,001.00.

Operation Backfire
Operation Backfire (FBI)
Operation Backfire is a multi-agency criminal investigation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation , into destructive acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes in the United States described as eco-terrorism by the FBI....

, a multi-agency criminal investigation into destructive acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes in the United States, that resulted in the December 7, 2005 arrest of seven people. At least six people were subpoenaed to testify before grand juries. Three of the individuals subpoenaed ended up on a January 20, 2006, 65 count, 84 page long indictment. The new indictment charged 11 people with conspiring to commit 18 acts of arson and vandalism over a 5 year period across multiple states. Some of the charges relate to a 1998 arson attack on the Vail Ski Resort in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

and the sabotage of a power line near Bend, Oregon

Bend, Oregon

Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...

, in 1999. The FBI considers these crimes to be acts of domestic terrorism and the ELF to be the nation's top domestic terror threat.

Response

The Christian Science Monitor reports that the Operation Backfire indictments have elicited concern, from activists, that authorities have "cracked the super-secrecy of ALF and ELF". Alternative media

Alternative media

Alternative media are media which provide alternative information to the mainstream media in a given context, whether the mainstream media are commercial, publicly supported, or government-owned...

organizations have condemned the arrests, some calling them a "witch-hunt

Witch-hunt

A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials...

", "aimed at disrupting and discrediting political movements". Activists, maintaining the Red Scare allusion

Allusion

An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. M. H...

, claim the operations are "fishing expedition[s]" carried out "in the midst of 9/11 McCarthyism

McCarthyism

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...

. The FBI disputes these claims, Director Robert Mueller

Robert Mueller

Robert Swan Mueller III is the 6th and current Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation .-Early life:...

claiming the agency takes action "only when volatile talk crosses the line into violence and criminal activity."

External links

Green Is the New Red
The Fed's War On The Animal Rights Movement-The Casualties of Green Scare
Portland Indymedia Green Scare Page
FBI's Operation Backfire
"Green Scared? Preliminary Lessons of the Green Scare", Rolling Thunder
Rolling Thunder (zine)
Rolling Thunder is a biannual "anarchist journal of dangerous living" published by anarchist collective CrimethInc. since the Summer of 2005....

- overview from an anarchist perspective
The Green Scare - Will Potter's article on the Vermont Law Review, Volume 33, Number 4, Summer 2009

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Cases

Individuals

Groups

Response

See also

External links