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, including Daniel McGowan. On January 25th, 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.

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

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