Posted on 04/05/2004 9:17:56 PM PDT by dila813
It's about the trees, foe of logging says Activist charged in firebombings denies FBI's 'terrorist' label
By ANDREW KRAMER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VICTORIA, B.C. -- For 19 months, Tre Arrow was one of the most wanted fugitives in North America -- he was accused of firebombing logging and cement trucks in Oregon and having links to a group of radical environmentalists viewed as terrorists by the FBI.
Now he's in the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre, facing charges of trying to shoplift bolt cutters. He has begun a hunger strike to protest what he calls injustices in the U.S. legal system, and is eager to talk about the evils of corporate culture -- although not the FBI's case against him.
The 30-year-old Arrow was born Michael Scarpitti. He first gained notoriety by scaling the offices of the U.S. Forest Service in Portland in 2000 and perching on a narrow ledge for 11 days to protest logging on nearby Mount Hood.
Arrow says he is not a terrorist.
FBI officials "want to label me the 'T' word," said Arrow, a veteran of anti-logging protests in Oregon who likes to go barefoot to protect the Earth and is seen as something of a folk hero among environmental militants.
Arrow said he will fight deportation to the United States, contending that he wouldn't get a fair trial because of the FBI's assertion that the crimes he is accused of are acts of terrorism.
Arrow has been accused in Oregon on federal charges of use of fire to commit a felony, destruction of vehicles used in interstate commerce and use of incendiary devices in a crime of violence. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 80 years in prison.
The firebombings were investigated by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Portland.
The FBI believes he is more than an activist. He is accused of firebombing logging trucks and cement trucks in two separate attacks in Oregon in 2001, and is suspected of having links with the Earth Liberation Front, a shadowy group that has claimed responsibility for scores of acts of destruction and vandalism across the country over the past dozen years.
Arrow was arrested in mid-March. His capture had become a top priority for the FBI, said Julie Thornton, the agent in charge of domestic terrorism investigations in Oregon.
Although the FBI's top priority is preventing attacks from the likes of al-Qaida, the agency has not let up in its battles against the ELF and similar groups, Thornton said.
"It's a huge part of what we do," she said.
The FBI has had some successes against the ELF. Across the country, at least eight people with suspected ties to the group have been arrested over the past few years.
Arrow is the latest suspect to be captured -- although it appears to have been by luck.
According to Canadian officials, he took some bolt cutters from a home improvement store in Victoria and was wrestled to the ground by a security guard. When his fingerprints were run through a database, the Canadians discovered that he was wanted by the FBI.
Arrow is one of four activists charged with setting logging trucks on fire outside Portland on June 1, 2001, to protest a planned timber cut on the slopes of nearby Mount Hood. Three other suspects were captured after one of them, Jake Sherman, told a girlfriend about the crime, according to arrest papers. The girlfriend's father is a deputy state fire marshal.
Sherman pleaded guilty and implicated Arrow. Sherman also confessed to a previous arson of cement trucks in Portland, and said Arrow had planned that crime as well. The investigation showed that Sherman was the author of an anonymous e-mail claiming the attack for the ELF.
Arrow grew up in a middle-class home in Florida. He enrolled at Florida State University, where he handed out fliers for the student branch of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He wrote messages with sidewalk chalk, and volunteered for beach cleanups.
Arrow dropped out of college and moved west, first to Cincinnati, where he played in a band and fathered a child with his backup singer, and then to Frazier, Colo., where he worked in a Whole Foods store.
Deciding he had to "put my own body between the chain saws and the ancient forest," Arrow in 1996 moved to Oregon to join a thriving movement of environmental activists.
In 2000, he made an unsuccessful run for Congress on the Pacific Green Party ticket, winning 15,763 votes.
On Aug. 13, 2002, Arrow was indicted in the firebombing attacks on the lumber trucks and cement trucks, which had occurred more than a year earlier.
In a recent interview, Arrow revealed few details of his time as a fugitive, but said he has many friends in British Columbia. After his arrest, police picked up several bags and Arrow's acoustic guitar at a house in Victoria.
"I have lots of local support here," he said.
It is unclear when Arrow will be sent back to the United States to stand trial. The Canadians could drop the shoplifting charges against him and extradite him.
"I don't care about me. We're talking about ancient forest that doesn't grow back in a couple of years. We're talking about a planet that cannot be replaced," he said.
"That to me is far more important than one person's individual case."
EARTH LIBERATION FRONT
The FBI says the has caused more than $100 million in damage since 1996. Following are prominent attacks tied to the group and its sister organization, the Animal Liberation Front:
Aug. 22, 2003: Two young men were filmed in a surveillance videotape in a $2.5 million vandalism and arson spree that targeted sport utility vehicles parked at car dealerships in Los Angeles' eastern suburbs. Slogans such as "Fat, Lazy Americans" and "I pollution" were painted on vehicles.
Aug. 1, 2003: An arson fire claimed by the ELF destroyed a five-story condominium under construction in San Diego, possibly part of what the ELF has called a campaign against urban sprawl. Damage was estimated at $50 million.
March 10, 2003: A McDonald's was damaged by burning debris in Chico, Calif. "Liberation" and "ALF" were spray-painted on the walls.
Dec. 28, 2002: Philadelphia suburb: Construction vehicles and a model home were vandalized in protest of urban sprawl.
June 1, 2001: An arson at Schoppert Logging Co. in Oregon destroyed one truck and two other vehicles, causing about $50,000 in damage.
May 21, 2001: Arson fires at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle and the Jefferson Poplar Farms in Clatskanie, Ore. The fire at the UW caused as much as $3 million in structural damage. The Oregon fire caused at least $500,000 in damage.
April 15, 2001: An arson at Ross Island Sand & Gravel in Portland caused $210,000 in damage to cement trucks.
March 2001: Days before accused ELF member Jeffrey Luers went on trial in Eugene, Ore., charged with arson in a fire at the Romania Chevrolet truck lot, the dealership was hit again. Thirty sport utility vehicles were damaged or destroyed, causing about $1 million in damage. Luers was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Sept. 9, 2000: Monroe County Republican Party Committee headquarters was set on fire in Bloomington, Ind.
July 21, 2000: Experimental trees were cut down at a U.S. Forest Service research station in Rheinlander, Wis.
June 16, 2000: a fire at the Romania center burned three trucks, causing $40,000 in damage.
Jan. 23, 2000: A luxury home was set on fire in Bloomington, Ind.
Dec. 31, 1999: Arson fire at Michigan State University's Agriculture Hall. ELF claimed to have targeted the school because of genetic research being carried out on plants.
Dec. 25, 1999: Boise Cascade office burned in Monmouth, Ore.
Dec. 28, 1998: U.S. Forest Industries' corporate headquarters in Medford, Ore., was burned.
Oct. 19, 1998: Fire swept through part of a ski resort in Vail, Colo.
Nov. 29, 1997: Fire damaged the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse Corrals in Burns, Ore., and 400 horses were released. ELF and ALF claimed joint responsibility.
October 1996: Fire destroyed a ranger station in Willamette National Forest in Oregon and a suspicious device was found on another, in the first documented ELF attack in the United States.
-- The Associated Press
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And an uber-nutjob too. how quaint.
I hope that gets mentioned in his obit when he falls out of a tree or gets run over by a bulldozer.
GRRRRRRR.......
He already fell out of a tree once, and broke his pelvis (I guess organgutans can't brachiate like they used to...). I'm sure your tax dollars paid for his recovery...
RICO statutes have been used against the pro-life movement and white supremicists. I say defund the left by seizing all funds from the national racketeering gangsters who call themselves the environmental movement (they are actually anticapitalists). They act like thugs and deserve to be treated as such.
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