FBI seeks 3 in probe of Chiron bombings - Officials also looking for brown Dodge van

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 9/2/03 | Tyche Hendricks

[MikalM]

The FBI wants to question a man and two women about the bombings last week at the Emeryville headquarters of the biotech company Chiron Corp., law enforcement officials said.

The federal agency put out an alert to police departments advising them to be on the lookout for a 1986 brown Dodge van with Oregon plates, according to local law enforcement sources.

[July 4th]

1986 brown Dodge van

Quiz: Which has caused more harm to the environment? Chiron or the 1986 Dodge van?

[My Favorite Headache]

Still thinking...tough call.

[Mo1]

A group called Revolutionary Cells -- Animal Liberation Brigade took responsibility for the bombings in a statement e-mailed to reporters last week.

Howard Dean supporters huh?

[The KG9 Kid]

Bjorn Einertsen in the news (Portland Oregon):

(Portland Mercury) District Attorney Drops Kidnapping Charges
by Ian Thomas

Around midnight on March 29, a small house party in Northeast Portland disintegrated into a free-for-all between cops and residents. With Prince blaring in the background, about 40 police officers--roughly the same number as revelers--handcuffed, pepper-sprayed, and arrested partygoers. In the days following the tangle, accusations and criminal charges emerged that two of the hosts had assaulted and kidnapped the first officer on the scene.

It was an alarming reaction by the police and the Multnomah County District Attorney. Because kidnapping is a so-called Measure 11 crime and carries a mandatory minimum jail sentence, Bjorn Einertsen and Chad Hapshe, the two accused hosts, faced more than seven years in prison.

Over the summer, this story has been edging towards its natural conclusion--a courtroom showdown. A victory for the DA would have stood as a cautionary tale about Portland's lopsided justice system, while exoneration would have justified what many have said all along--that the cops overreacted and the DA abused his power.

But on August 30, with less than 48 hours before the courtroom showdown, the DA balked on kidnapping charges and offered a bargain--in exchange for guilty pleas for assault (still a felony), Einertsen and Hapshe would receive minimal jail time, a three-year probation, and several weeks of forest service.

But instead of capping this story with a neatly packaged resolution, the last-minute decision leaves a puzzling question: Why did the DA take a routine assault charge and for six months aggressively prosecute it as a trumped-up kidnapping?

Several observers familiar with both the case and Einertsen and Hapshe, remarked the decision to prosecute the two men to such extremes had a broader target in mind; that is, putting a scare on the punks and activists in Northeast Portland.

Although the DA did not publicly back away from their charges until the last minute, Norm Frank with the DA's office admitted that as more testimony poured in and time passed, their suspicion that Einertsen and Hapshe had kidnapped a police officer waned.

"As the case progressed, it became more problematic whether the kidnapping could be sustained at trial," Frank admitted.

[piasa]

Here's an old report from Sept. 2001:

END OF STORY : District Attorney Drops Kidnapping Charges
by Ian Thomas

The Portland Mercury

Around midnight on March 29, a small house party in Northeast Portland disintegrated into a free-for-all between cops and residents. With Prince blaring in the background, about 40 police officers--roughly the same number as revelers--handcuffed, pepper-sprayed, and arrested partygoers. In the days following the tangle, accusations and criminal charges emerged that two of the hosts had assaulted and kidnapped the first officer on the scene.

It was an alarming reaction by the police and the Multnomah County District Attorney. Because kidnapping is a so-called Measure 11 crime and carries a mandatory minimum jail sentence, Bjorn Einertsen and Chad Hapshe, the two accused hosts, faced more than seven years in prison.

Over the summer, this story has been edging towards its natural conclusion--a courtroom showdown. A victory for the DA would have stood as a cautionary tale about Portland's lopsided justice system, while exoneration would have justified what many have said all along--that the cops overreacted and the DA abused his power.

But on August 30, with less than 48 hours before the courtroom showdown, the DA balked on kidnapping charges and offered a bargain--in exchange for guilty pleas for assault (still a felony), Einertsen and Hapshe would receive minimal jail time, a three-year probation, and several weeks of forest service.

But instead of capping this story with a neatly packaged resolution, the last-minute decision leaves a puzzling question: Why did the DA take a routine assault charge and for six months aggressively prosecute it as a trumped-up kidnapping?

Several observers familiar with both the case and Einertsen and Hapshe, remarked the decision to prosecute the two men to such extremes had a broader target in mind; that is, putting a scare on the punks and activists in Northeast Portland.

Although the DA did not publicly back away from their charges until the last minute, Norm Frank with the DA's office admitted that as more testimony poured in and time passed, their suspicion that Einertsen and Hapshe had kidnapped a police officer waned.

"As the case progressed, it became more problematic whether the kidnapping could be sustained at trial," Frank admitted.

[The KG9 Kid]

Jinx!

Can do you one better:

Here's the Swedish Marxist/Leninist board that the little fink has signed:

bjorn eilert einertsen - 06/23/99 00:48:16 My Email:trelie66@hotmail.com

Comments: will bare takke for en sterk "resource" dere har skapt og haaller i gang. i det det er nesten blitt en amerikaner av meg, etter aa ha bodt haer den andre halve av livet mit, er det viktig for meg aa vite assen det gaar paa hjeme fronted utenom g og aftenposten som desverre er mer tilgjengelig her. anyway, regardless of my situation, your doing an awsome job.thanx bjorn-eilert einertsen

[Grampa Dave]

I bet that a lot of these enviral terrorists have been terrorizing Portland and Eugene for years.

Thanks to the liberal mayors, city councils, mediots and other liberals they have been getting passes and are considered to be Green Heroes.

Whenever anarchism or green terrorism happens on the West Coast, the odds are good that one or more of the terrorists has been living and operating out of Oregon with better odds of Portland and/or Eugen being their home base.

[piasa]

Isn't that lovely...

Here's more (What IS it with Portland?):

REALITY VS. PERCEPTION : Have Portland Police Really Gone Gestapo?

by Phil Busse
The Portland Mercury

What began as an alleged response to a noise complaint and spun into a scuffle between party-goers and 43 police officers has now turned into something even more: Activists claim that police are purposefully profiling them and orchestrating a plan of intimidation.

Two weeks ago, police arrived at a small house party in inner Northeast Portland. After initial heated words, a fight between responding officer Sgt. Fort and a party-goer broke out. It remains unclear who threw the first punch and who was acting in self-defense; but by night's end, three party-goers were arrested for felony riot charges. Even more shocking, Bjorn Einertsen faces felony charges for kidnapping Sgt. Fort and a nine-year prison sentence. Einertsen is a cook at Chez What? who acquaintances describe as mild-mannered.

In the days following, the event has emerged as a seminal moment that some think shows exactly how far the police have departed from their Andy Griffith-style of policing and towards Gestapo tactics of surveillance, harassment, and intimidation. Several activists believe their houses are being monitored by undercover officers and others are claiming they have been followed.

"There is a definite air of Martial law," claimed one activist. Only two weeks earlier, he had been pulled over for an alleged DUI. The police, he claims, followed him for two miles from the Jockey Club in Northeast Portland. The man pointed out that the Jockey Club is a local hangout for some of the city's self-acclaimed anarchists and, at times, has been where informal activist meetings have been held. He was sober at the time.

One of the club's owners admitted that police have stepped up patrols in the neighborhood; but, he said, one officer explained that those were in response to two recent shootings along Killingsworth, just a few blocks to the east.

Real or imagined paranoia, the relationship between police and activists is like any other; its quality and character is based as much on perceptions as reality. Many activists worry that the recent step-up in surveillance--real or imagined--is not only part of a trend that began a year ago when Mark Kroeker was hired as the city's new police chief, but also as means to intimidate activists from protesting at this year's May Day activities.

"It is the kind of thing where the police try to quell more political activism," said another activist, "and instead it just becomes a new problem and new reason to protest and get violent."

[Grampa Dave]

Great find by piasa on this green jihadist.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the article!

[piasa]

"Cops Rush In" Willamette Week
April 4, 2001

A seemingly innocuous party on March 30 provoked a massive police response, left three men charged with Measure 11 crimes and increased tension between the city's counterculture and police.

Around 1 am, more than 50 people were dancing to Prince's Hits in a house at Northeast 12th Avenue and Alberta Street when three police officers responded to a noise complaint, says police spokesman Officer John Wrigley.

After that, stories diverge. Police say that Bjorn Einertsen, Chad Hapshe and Michael Ray dragged Sgt. Michael Fort into the house and beat him, injuring his shoulder. Fort radioed for cover; 49 officers responded.

Partygoers say things got crazy when a cop kicked Ray. As Ray's friends shouted at the officers, they say, backup officers unloaded on partygoers with batons and pepper spray. A K-9 unit appeared; officers broke out bean-bag shot guns and declared several blocks around the house an emergency zone.

Matt Kramer, one of several partygoers who was handcuffed in front of the house, says he was so upset he suggested that people take down names and badge numbers. "Immediately they dragged me away," he told WW, "and threw me on the ground with a knee in the back of the head." He was taken to Northeast Precinct along with three other men.

One of them, Einertsen, alleges that he was beaten in his holding cell after he urinated on the cell floor; he says officers had ignored repeated requests to let him use a bathroom. "I was not fighting back," he says. "I had handcuffs on."

Einertsen, Hapshe and Ray were each charged with rioting and assaulting a public safety officer. At their initial court appearance Monday, Deputy District Attorney Scott Kerin added kidnapping, a Measure 11 crime, to the charges, and the three were jailed. Bail for each could run $250,000.

--Philip Dawdy

---

Partygoers say things got crazy when a cop kicked Ray.

I would say they got pretty crazy when someone had to call the cops about the noise, and when the partiers dragged the cop inside in the first place. MAybe Ray shouldn't have dragged anyone inside if he didn't want to get kicked.

[CyberAnt]

Hmmmm? They should check over in Modesto - Peterson's lawyer was looking for a brown van too. In fact .. I think they found one.

[The KG9 Kid]

"... Einertsen is a cook at Chez What? who acquaintances describe as mild-mannered."

Mild-mannered... Just like Lee Harvey Oswald.

[Alamo-Girl]

Hmmm ... Thank you for the heads up!

[piasa]

Seems Chez What isn't doing too well financially. What a shame...

(Here's a chatroom conversation among some folks who have an interest in it- beware the salty language...)

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:D_sUzYiNYo8J:www.livejournal.com/community/damnportlanders/1106799.html+%22Chez+What%3F%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[piasa]

Where's the Swedish chef when we need a translation, anyway?

CHIRON HIT BY EXPLOSION - ELF SUSPECTED

[Vigilant1]

Portland Man Wanted In Bio-Tech Bombings

Animal Rights Group Claims Responsibility

KOIN-TV News - Portland
3 Sep 2003

PORTLAND -- A Portland man is wanted for questioning in a California bio-tech bombing.

Two bombs exploded last week at the Chiron Corp. in Emeryville, Calif., and a third bomb was found at the site and detonated by police. No one was injured in the early-morning explosions.

Witnesses said a 1986 Dodge van with Oregon plates, registered to 25-year-old Bjorn Einertsen (pictured), left the scene after the bombings.

Two years ago, Einertsen was charged with assaulting a Portland police officer at a house party.

Animal rights group Revolutionary Cells -- Animal Liberation Brigade is claiming responsibility for the attacks. Chiron believes that it was targeted because it uses animals to test its cancer and infectious disease drugs.

In addition to Einertson, the FBI also wants to question 28-year-old Sweet Mensoff of Eugene, Ore., and 22-year-old Joani Ruppel. Investigators say the three are not necessarily suspects but may just be witnesses.