On Friday, January 20th, the Justice Department announced that 11 individuals were being charged in a 65 count indictment handed down by a Eugene, Oregon grand jury. The indictment charged the individuals with a series of arsons, sabotage and vandalism that were claimed by the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, between 1996 and 2001. The FBI has called these actions terrorism. The indictment includes further charges against some recent arrestees.

The 11 people listed in the indictment are Joseph Dibee, Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, Sarah Kendall Harvey, Daniel Mc Gowan, Stanislaus Gregory Meyerhoff, Josephine Sunshine Overaker, Jonathan Mark Christopher Paul, Rebecca Rubin, Suzanne Savoie, Darren Todd Thurston, and Kevin Tubbs. Several of these people are not in custody, but Portland Indymedia reports that Jonathan Paul and Suzanne Savoie were arrested last week. On January 25th, Daniel McGowan was released into the custody of his sister. He will be required to live with his sister, wear an electronic monitor, and report weekly to pretrial supervisors in New York. Some five additional unnamed sources are mentioned in the indictment.

The indictments were announced the week that a tape from Osama Bin Laden was released. Bin Laden promised a continued campaign of violence against the United States. The close proximity of the announcement regarding the indictments caused many to wonder if this was a diversionary tactic meant to draw attention away from the FBI’s failure in the international terrorism arena and to distract the public from the current debate regarding illegal wire taps being perpetrated by the government. Read more

The government says that this alleged cell, which supposedly called itself "the family," was involved in more than 15 incidents across five states, included arsons or attempted arsons at U.S. Forest Service Ranger Stations, animal holding facilities, lumber companies and timber farms, the Vail Ski Resort, and the Eugene, Oregon Police Department.

Support websites: Daniel McGowan | Chelsea Dawn Gerlach | Darren Thurston | Kevin Tubbs

War of the Trees-an analysis of the FBI's Green Scare | Summary: Environmental and Anarchist Witch-hunt under way | Bombs and Shields Article | Portland Indymedia's Prisons and Prisoners Page | US Indymedia Ecoprisoners.org | Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network