Posted on 11/07/2005 9:05:05 AM PST by LibertyRocks
Two former OU students accused of breaking into OU’s underground tunnel network are members of a local activist group that claims it has been harassed by the FBI.
Group members said they were questioned by FBI agents about Joel Henry Hinrichs III and the books they own.
Christopher Boyce, 24, and James Kent Eldridge, 21, who are both charged with second-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary, belonged to the Greenbriar Collective, a group that practices organic gardening and operates a lending library out of a house in east Norman.
According to the Cleveland County District Attorney’s office, Boyce and Eldridge broke into the Richards Hall zoology building in the early hours of Oct. 20 via an underground tunnel and entered a room marked “biohazard.” A sealed glass vial was confiscated from one of the suspects after they were apprehended by police.
Members of the Greenbriar Collective said the group was not involved with the break-in.
“We don’t know why they did it,” Jacki Sellens, former OU student and Greenbriar member, said. “We only know that we know that they would never do anything to hurt anyone.”
The group has been visited by the FBI twice in the past two months, the member said.
The first visit, which took place on Sept. 21, upset Greenbriar members, who said they have done nothing illegal.
Members of the Greenbriar Collective said they are a peaceful group focused on helping people. The group hosts weekly vegetarian potlucks, and two members of the group traveled to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help feed displaced storm survivors, said Mike Risley, OU alumnus and Greenbriar member.
The group is also fixing discarded computers to donate to charity, Risley said.
Norman resident John Rushton, who lives at the Greenbriar house at 823 N. Findlay Ave., said two clean-cut men in business casual attire arrived at the house in an unmarked car at about 10 a.m. Sept. 21. The men identified themselves as FBI agents and seemed to have information about the residents of the house and other members of the Greenbriar group, Rushton said.
“They said ‘You’re John Rushton,’” Rushton said. “‘What do you know about Ruckus Society?’ they asked me.”
Ruckus Society is an activist group that provides civil disobedience training for environmental, human rights and social justice organizations, according to the Ruckus Society’s Web site. Rushton had previously hosted Ruckus Society workshops at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Rushton said.
The men also knew the names of other members of the Greenbriar Collective, and they wanted to know what kind of books the group had in the house, Rushton said.
“They wanted to know if we had a copy of ‘The Anarchist’s Cookbook,’ which we don’t,” Rushton said.
“The Anarchist’s Cookbook” details how to make homemade explosives such as pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails.
Rushton said he refused to let the men inside the house.
“They said ‘If something happens in Norman, President George W. Bush will call and say ‘Get me John Rushton,’” Rushton said.
Less than two weeks later, on Oct. 1, OU student Joel Henry Hinrichs III killed himself with a homemade explosive device while sitting on a bench outside George Lynn Cross Hall during the OU-Kansas State football game.
The FBI didn’t visit the house directly after the incident, Rushton said. The Greenbriar Collective did not associate with Hinrichs, members said.
FBI Special Agent Martin Maag said he could not comment on the Hinrichs investigation. The Greenbriar Collective has not been targeted for investigation, he said. Maag said he was not aware of the Sept. 21 FBI visit to the Greenbriar house, although he said other FBI agents or officers from another law enforcement agency may have questioned the group.
“As far as I know, we are not interested in that group for anything,” Maag said.
Maag was present the second time the group was questioned, on or around Oct. 21, he said. Shortly after Boyce and Eldridge were arrested on a complaint of burglary, two FBI agents visited the Greenbriar house after the bureau received a phone tip that “someone was moving boxes out of the house,” Maag said.
Isaiah McCaslin, linguistics sophomore and Greenbriar Collective member, said he was sitting on the porch of the Greenbriar house when he was approached by two FBI agents who asked him if he had seen Hinrichs moving boxes out of the house.
“I didn’t really answer any of their questions because I was too busy making fun of them for asking if a dead guy was moving boxes around the house,” McCaslin said. “I went inside, and they said really creepily, ‘We’ll be back.’”
Maag said the group was questioned as part of a routine canvassing of the neighborhood after the FBI received an anonymous tip.
“I actually thought it was strange that they wouldn’t talk to me,” Maag said. “We are required to follow up on any leads we get.”
No information related to any ongoing investigations was obtained because of the anonymous phone tip, Maag said.
“We’re fairly sure [the FBI] will be back,” said Maka Laughingwolf, Norman resident and Greenbriar member. “But we’re not worried about it, because we’re not doing anything wrong.”
Ruckus Society, under news, says itis funded by NGO's and on the Web link, shows Turner funded them, therefore, I assume that Soros is involved.
http://news.google.com/news?client=googlet&q=Ruckus+Society&tab=wn&ie=ISO-8859-1&sa=N&start=10
"The same fraternity that Joel Hinrichs was a member o of ..."
How about Charles Dreyling, the OU student with the pipe bomb, who tried to board a plane? Triangle? Anybody know of a connection?
Only that the other kid arrested in the "stoppered vial case"- James Kent Eldridge - is the son of Kent Eldridge, P.C. who is Dreyling's lawyer...
" Kent Eldridge, P.C. who is Dreyling's lawyer ..."
I wonder about radical affiliations there, too. ACLU, SPLC, immigration?
On his website it states that he represents the local teacher's union...
http://www.kenteldridge.com/
Representative Clients:
American Federation of Teachers AFL - CIO - Local #2309
References:
Ed Allen, President of American Federation of Teachers
Eldridge taught this course, which might indicate more than just a little bit of a leftist bent:
Travel to Cuba - Myth or Reality, Oklahoma County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, December 17, 2003
Whoa. Google Mara Laughingwolf and check out her bio: "Maka Laughingwolf is a single polyamorous bi-dyke, crunchy hippie, healer. Maka lives in Norman, Oklahoma with her two beautiful children, who she supports with a variety of creative work choices."
Oh, those poor kids. Mommie's an unapologetically promiscuous, bisexual, pagan hippie.
http://www.ingalagringa.com/womanifestos/maka.html
Thanks for the pings. With what is happening in Europe, it pays to stay alert.
“They said ‘If something happens in Norman, President George W. Bush will call and say ‘Get me John Rushton,’” Rushton said.
Now that's just ridiculous. Everybody knows it's Karl Rove that makes those phone calls.
So they've already moved from 813 College to 823 N. Findlay, just in the week since the other story about "biohazard" ran?
No wonder they were asked about somebody "moving boxes" -- apparently they do a whole lot of that.
Yeah, but it's Dubya that has the steel-trap memory for all these little terror buds.
I was just worried that Dick might not have time to look up the change-of-address now that his several new assistants are just getting broken in. Training noobs leaves so little surfing time.
Thank you for your input. Do you remember when that other break-in happened? (I have to admit it's rather amusing to hear how these groups are so concerned about the animals, but have no clue as to their proper care...)
I think the other break-in happened sometime in the 2-3 days leading up to the tunnel incident. They might have even been at the same time.
Were they bragging about this--the first break-in? Is that how you heard about it?
Well, James Eldridge got his prelim hearing conference postponed from today until 2 weeks from today, November 22, but his dad's case that was scheduled for the same time today in Norman (1PM) with his pot-possession defendant did happen as scheduled, I presume.
And Chris Boyce's prelim hearing conference was still shown on the docket for today at their original time (also 1PM). The website takes a day or so to update and I'll check back--although there may not be anything to report, since it's just a conference.
I'm taking a Zoology class and our lab instructor was telling us about it.
Is your Zool lab instructor a professor or is it a GA? IOW, was it laughed off or was it considered a serious offense? Do they know exactly who did it, or just this "collective" group?
The lab instructor is a GA. The department is considering it a serious offense, but within our classroom we just laughed at the stupidity of animal rights idiots. In fact, there's a poster in the lab showing a pic of people protesting experiments on animals with the caption "Thanks to Animal Research, They'll Be Able to Protest 20.8 Years Longer." They're pretty sure it was the same group involved in the breakins, but not quite sure if it was the exact same people.
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