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Environmentalist Sentenced as Terrorist Gets 16 Years

Ten Militant Environmentalists Could Be Sentenced as Terrorists Without Having Killed a Soul
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN

May 23, 2007 —

A radical environmentalist who admitted to setting fire to an SUV dealership, a tree farm and a police station was declared a terrorist yesterday and sentenced to 16 years in federal prison.
Stanislas Meyerhoff, 29, was the first of 10 admitted saboteurs -- members of a loose-knit extremist environmental group, the Earth Liberation Front -- who face sentencing in the coming weeks for a series of arsons committed across five western states over six years.

Since their arrests last year, members of the cell, who called themselves "the family," have all pleaded guilty to charges of arson and conspiracy. They have insisted, however, that they would fight at their sentencing hearings the "terrorist enhancement" procedures that could increase their prison terms and land them in supermax prisons.

The hearings are at the new center of an old storm about how to define someone a terrorist.
Radical environmental groups including the Earth Liberation Front and an associate network, the Animal Liberation Front, have been called by the FBI "the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat" in America. Their members include four of the bureau's 11 most wanted homegrown terrorists.
The groups and their supporters say that in more than 1,100 acts of arson and vandalism the members have never killed a single person, and the "terrorist" label is intended only as a scare tactic and means of augmenting the government's rolls of captured terrorists.

Federal agents arrested the 10 defendants last year in an action called Operation Backfire. At the time of their arrest, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales called the cell's $40 million dollar campaign of arson -- which targeted a horse slaughterhouse, SUV dealerships, a scientific research center, logging companies and a ski resort -- "a pattern of domestic terrorism activities."

Lawyers and activists defending the saboteurs insist that acts of arson and property damage have never been the stuff of terrorism indictments. They say the label is intended by the government to stir public outrage and increase the length of their client's prison terms.

Prosecutors on Monday called Meyerhoff the "leader, organizer and strategist" of the cell and sought to deflect his attorneys' claims that the cell had intentionally committed acts in which no people or animals would be killed.

"How many violent acts does it take to call a person violent?" asked assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall.
Meyerhoff, Engdall said, had committed "offenses that were clearly calculated to influence the conduct of government by intimidation, coercion and retaliation."

The government said that combination of intimidation and coercion is what makes it terrorism, and the fact that no one has died is not the real issue.

The Green Scare

Last week federal prosecutors compared the acts of the saboteurs to those of the Ku Klux Klan.
"This is a classic case of terrorism, despite their protests of lofty humane goals," said assistant U.S. Attorney Stephan Peifer. "It was pure luck no one was killed or injured by their actions."
But the defendants' lawyers insist it is statistically impossible to have committed so many acts of arson with no deaths, unless they had taken abundant steps to prevent the loss of life.
Supporters of the environmental militants maintain that the government is going after "easy targets," using witch-hunt tactics reminiscent of the McCarthy era "red scare" of the 1950s.
They accuse the government of trumping up charges in an effort to intimidate environmental and animal-rights activists -- in a "green scare."

"People are being threatened with life in prison for property damage. Michael Fortier, an accomplice in the Oklahoma City bombing, was released last year after less than 10 years in prison," Lauren Regan, executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, a group that monitors activist rights in Oregon, told ABC News.
"If you look at the legislative history of terror enhancement, it originally only applied to acts of international terrorism outside of the U.S.," Regan said. "In 1995, after Oklahoma City, it could be applied to acts of murder or attempted murder. Congress intended it to apply to things like PanAm 103, or embassy bombings, not property damage."

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, and the passage of the U.S. Patriot Act, the definition of terrorism has widened and with it the size of the net the government can cast to catch suspects.

'People Are Scared'

But those who own the property that's been damaged said they've been terrorized and the people responsible should be treated as terrorists.

"There is no question that people are scared," said Frankie Trull, president and founder of the National Association of Biomedical Research, a nonprofit that represents companies and research institutions that use animals for research.

"There is an extreme element in the animal-rights movement that has decided they are somehow on a higher moral plane and that they can take the law into their own hands," she said. "The Internet has made it easier to find out where scientists live and where their children go to school."

Trull continued: "I think most people would define terrorism as leaving a Molotov cocktail on someone's doorstep and thinking that's OK. & Companies are concerned with trying to protect employees and employees' families."

The FBI's current Most Wanted List of domestic terrorism suspects includes the names of 11 people currently at large. Four of those 11 are affiliated with the Earth Liberation Front and are not accused of murder. The others all committed violent crimes.

Activists see the list as proof that the government is targeting radical environmentalists rather than pursuing harder-to-find criminals bent on using violence to coerce the government.

"Some believe that the government is changing the terminology from acts of civil disobedience to acts of terrorism, because they can show concrete results by arresting domestic activists," wrote the the authors of a National Lawyers Guild upcoming report.

The FBI, however, insisted that the radicals on the Most Wanted List are real terrorists.
And yet the FBI maintained, "One of the most serious domestic terror threats facing the country are special interest extremist movements that aim to use criminal direct action against people or companies," according to spokesman Bill Carter.

"There is a distinction between constitutional advocacy and direct action. Law enforcement only gets involved when people use force, violence or criminal activity."

A lot of the enviromentalists are getting caught up in terrorist laws. I guess it is just another good reason not to break the law.

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Yerp..  :hi5:

Jd when the extremists took control they have passed more and more extreme laws Now most are toyally polarized. As the las evolved  into more extreme ones so has violence has increased also Best example is kids killing in schools. And havnt solved a problem yet But they produced a few generations now that have no respect life or anythings When the battle inside between hate and love for self turns to hate thats when they are mean.

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Watch how you folks talk.   Tree's are my brothers !     Set them free !!!!

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

He got sentenced for the damage, and the POTENTIAL for manslaughter... as far as I'm concerned, it's APPROPRIATE. Jeez, what about the folks that work the night shift, security, data processing, etc...

Any fool that is going to do that kind of serious damage is crazy enough to kill someone. But the accidental potential manslaughter or murder factor is so high that it HAS to be accounted for!

Agreed Matt,

  There's quite a difference between acts of Civil Disobedience, and blatantly dangerous Criminal acts.  I wonder how many of these people are Criminals comitting violent acts under a guise of "Interest Group" member. Setting fire to a tree farm as an environmentalist ?  Torching a police station ?   This guys a raging nutcase.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Anyone up for blowing up a medical clinic?

Jd as teens we terrorized the contryside. But if we broke anything the next morn we were knocking on their door Can we put your fence back up that we drove thru last night?

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Forget the Whales! Save the environmentalists! [schild=18 fontcolor=FF7F50 shadowcolor=D2691E shieldshadow=1]Down with Civilization![/schild]

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Who loves ya baby?

I'd probably believe more that you were knocking down their door than that you were offering to fix their stuff. C'mon now. I hate to say it but that even SOUNDS lame (is lame)

Sorry Maam, we're here to "un-toilet paper" your tree. Mom says we need that toilet paper back.  [schild=1 fontcolor=DC143C shadowcolor=00BFFF shieldshadow=1]We've come to fix everything![/schild]

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Who loves ya baby?

 LOL


Honest to god truth.. Of course there was daughter I really liked!!! Now does it make more sense ?

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Now I understand. You was in love....the love boat!

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Who loves ya baby?

I believe that was the "Man in the love boat"..  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO

<Edit>  You know,  I jokingly/ facetiously said "Nah,  Not tonight Jerry",  but given the recent laws, and heightened states of awareness, even sarcasm, and joking about certain things today can get a person in trouble under the new laws.  The Patriot act has gotten strict. We've lost a certain amount of freedom

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

with freedom, comes responsibility and age. The old arguement of "if it's so dangerous, why isn't it put away"... returns to the old point of "grow up and accept that there are responsibilities to yourself and your country.


part of that is knowing that in a heightened state of security, you have to be more socially conscious that there will be extremes that have to be followed up on. We may not like it, but when you have folks that use the freedom tools like the internet, there HAS to be a system of checks and balances.

   Seems the difference between freedom and chaos is "boundaries". Millions of people MUST live in an element of compromise.  Matt,  ever ponder getting into some aspect of Legislature ?

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I ran for city council once... but didn't have any real spending capitol... lost against a guy that obviously was well funded and on a fast career path to elected office. The fact that I could out debate him was lost on many voters! !

i agree with it being called a terroristic act....

Main Entry: ter·ror
Pronunciation: 'ter-&r, 'te-r&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French terrour, from Latin terror, from terrEre to frighten; akin to Greek trein to be afraid, flee, tremein to tremble -- more at TREMBLE
1 : a state of intense fear
2 a : one that inspires fear : SCOURGE b : a frightening aspect <the terrors of invasion> c : a cause of anxiety : WORRY d : an appalling person or thing; especially : BRAT
3 : REIGN OF TERROR
4 :  violent or destructive acts (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population    or government into granting their demands

I'm sure the folks who lost their jobs at the dealership, the owner of that dealership, the inmates at the police station (who were locked up and could not have gotten out if the building had been engulfed in flames), the folks working at the station would agree.  further, why set fire to a tree farm?  isn't that what you're trying to save anyway if you're an environmentalist?

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All work and no play make Homer something something

I had a very small taste of politics Matt, and I bombed.  By bombed I mean I just ended up angry, but I couldn't decide who I felt like swinging at more, the opposition, or the public.

So much for my fond memories

I take things personally, and you can't  (or so they say you can't).  It's not for all !

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".