What is the Green Scare?
The term Green Scare, alluding to the Red Scare of the 1940s and ’50s, refers to legal and extralegal actions taken by the U.S. government against the “radical” environmentalist movement. Like the Red Scare, the Green Scare uses new laws (1) and new arms of the state (2) to harshly punish a few individuals in order to repress a widespread social impulse. It is a strategy that has been used before: attack the margins of a group or movement as a way to limit the parameters of dissent more generally.
Concern for the Natural World
People from all walks of life have become increasingly concerned about the destruction of the natural world. Some of the most alarming changes are global warming and mass extinctions — scientists estimate that half of all species on earth will be extinct by the year 2100. Perhaps you already know that more children suffer from asthma now than ever before. Perhaps a member of your family has been lost to cancer. Now that pollution and global warming are affecting peoples’ everyday lives, their families, and their physical well-being, more people feel compelled to act on these valid and growing concerns.
There are corporations who are knowingly responsible for the worst of these environmental offenses. The government has done little to stop them, and in some cases facilitates their abuses. Seeing this injustice for what it is, well-intentioned people have attempted to disrupt these corrupt policies and bring attention to havoc they are wreaking.
The War on Dissent
In December 2005, government agents carried out a nationwide sweep of arrests, charging fourteen individuals with direct actions in the Pacific Northwest as part of the FBI’s “Operation Backfire.” Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, recently beleaguered by Senate hearings regarding his dishonesty with Congress and the public, attempted to falsely demonize these individuals as “eco-terrorists” at a press conference scheduled to coincide with the arrests.
According to journalist Will Potter, “Corporations and the politicians that represent them have been on a coordinated campaign to silence dissent by branding anyone who stands in their way a ‘terrorist.’ They’ve taken a few pages from the Red Scare playbook and a few from the ‘with us or against us’ playbook of the War on Terror.” (3)
The state has attached the word “terror” to acts of sabotage and civil disobedience in an effort to frighten environmental and animal advocacy activists, as well as anyone who may agree with their motivations or have sympathy with them. In the pursuit of this repressive agenda, the state has used the worst Patriot Act-sanctioned surveillance powers in these cases. Dozens of people have been subpoenaed to appear before Grand Juries. The government has paid its informants with large amounts of cash and drugs. Undercover agent provocateurs have infiltrated activists’ bedrooms and lives. And we still have seen only the shadows of the government’s post-9/11 program of surveillance and repression.
Taking A Principled Stand
Though many people face charges in “Green Scare” cases (4), this pamphlet focuses on four individuals who have taken a principled stand and chosen not to cooperate with the prosecution. Joyanna Zacher, Jonathan Paul, Daniel McGowan and Nathan Block were among the fourteen people rounded up during the “Operation Backfire” arrests. This massive operation, targeting what the state claims to be “eco-terrorism,” is the centerpiece of the Bush Administration’s assault on domestic dissent, executed under the guise of “fighting terrorists.” The acts of “terrorism” that these defendants have been accused of are actually acts of sabotage, which are attacks against property, not people. Out of the deepest concern for life, the individuals involved took care to ensure that no people were harmed. Buildings and cars were burned, and wild horses were set free.
Because the state has attached the word “terrorism” to these charges, the defendants are facing much longer sentences than they would otherwise serve for property destruction. Prosecutors threatened some defendants with life in prison for their ethically-motivated acts. With the threat of such lengthy sentences hanging over their heads, some individuals admitted guilt immediately after their arrests and proceeded to provide information to the government. Others held out longer but eventually folded as well. In order to receive reduced sentences, part of their plea agreement mandated that they must cooperate with the state in ongoing investigations against the environmental movement for the rest of their lives. This has profoundly saddened and angered much of the surrounding community.
Here is How YOU Can Help!
Write letters to Green Scare defendants in prison. Prison is a lonely and isolating place. A letter from you will brighten the day of any of the people listed in this pamphlet. This is a real way of showing support. Current addresses can be found on support websites.
Plan an event in your city. Show a documentary or movie and have a discussion about these cases. Reach out. Raising awareness about environmental concerns remains important. Help others put “Green Scare” repression in context.
Raise funds to cover the stupefying legal costs incurred by state crackdowns. Plan a bake sale, organize a run or walk, have a rummage sale and send the proceeds to the support groups.
Use your imagination. There is no shortage of things to be done. Be creative, stand up for your civil rights, do what you can for the earth and fight the menace of tyranny with courage!
Joyanna, Jonathan, Daniel and Nathan have all chosen not to provide information about their friends and their communities, despite offers by the Feds for reduced sentences in exchange for this level of “cooperation.” They will be sentenced this summer, when arguments will be made against the “terrorism enhancement” which would add twenty years to their prison terms.
Civil Liberties and the Environment
We ask that you show your support for those who have courageously chosen to stand by their principles even in the face of extreme repression. We hope that you will continue to follow these cases and learn as much as you can. If you are care about your civil liberties, and the environment that will be left to our children and grandchildren, then please take a moment to consider what is at stake. Certainly the lives of these four compassionate human beings, who will be sent to jail, are at stake. But also consider this: While the earth heats up, while a mass species dieoff occurs, we are allowing a culture to be built that values the profit margins of corporations over the health of humans and over the sustainability of life on this planet. While it’s easy money to allow the environment to be trashed for personal and corporate wealth, those with the vision and foresight to see long-term consequences of genetic engineering, global warming, deforestation and mass extinction of species are locked away, labelled as “eco-terrorists.”
Do your own research and think critically about what you are told by the mainstream media and by the government, which have vested interests in not telling you the whole story. Find out more about Jonathan Paul, Daniel McGowan Nathan Block and Joyanna Zacher by accessing the internet resources listed on the back of this pamphlet. And think about what you can do in your everyday life to make a difference. Global warming isn’t just something that concerns environmentalists. It is a real phenomenon that threatens each and every one of us. Therefore, we are all part of the solution. Let’s pursue a better future together, one in which corporate polluters are the ones worrying about a big crackdown and activists are free to speak and organize without living in fear of government repression.
Where to Learn More About the Green Scare:
GreenistheNewRed.com
GreenScare.org
BombsandShields.com
www.fbiwitchhunt.com
ELP News: ecoprisoners.org
Civil Liberties Defense Center: www.CLDC.org
Break the Chains: www.breakthechains.info
Daniel McGowan: www.supportdaniel.org
Briana Waters: www.supportbriana.org
Jeff Luers: www.freejeffluers.org
Rod Coronado: www.supportrod.org
Eric McDavid: www.supporteric.org
Tre Arrow: www.trearrow.org
SHAC 7 Defendants
SHAC 7: www.shac7.com
Jake Conroy: www.supportjake.org
Lauren Gazzola: www.supportlauren.com
Josh Harper: www.joshharper.org
Andy Stepanian: www.andystepanian.com
Kevin Kjonaas: www.supportkevin.com
Darius Fullmer: www.shac7.com/dari
Notes
(1) The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) passed congress and was signed into law on November 27th by President Bush. This law plays off the fears of 9/11 by labeling activists as terrorists. Under the new law, animal rights activists have faced massive fines and serious jail time for involvement in non-violent civil disobedience.
(2) The Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies, notably the Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement. On April 28, 2005, Portland, OR became the first city in the nation to withdraw from a JTTF. The American Civil Liberties Union and other civil liberties groups have expressed concerns over JTTF tactics, including infiltration of activist peace groups under assumed names. Such activities were restricted by regulations put in place after the Church Commission hearings in the 1970s, which exposed politically motivated spying and obstruction of first amendment rights by the COINTELPRO division. However, the Justice Department eliminated these regulations in 2002, leading many to view the JTTF as direct threat to civil liberties. JTTFs engage in surveillance, electronic monitoring, source development and interviews in their pursuits. Prior to September 11, 2001, the United States had 35 JTTFs. Shortly after the attacks on September 11, FBI Director Robert Mueller instructed all FBI field offices to establish formal terrorism task forces. There are now 100 Joint Terrorism Task Forces nationwide, including at least one at each of the FBI Field Offices.
(3) Read Will Potter’s full story at www.GreenistheNewRed.com
(4) Briana Waters has also taken a principled stand. Her trial is scheduled to begin on September 17, 2007. Briana is a dedicated mother who deserves your support. Please see her website, www.supportbriana.org, for more information.
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