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<font size=3>Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2006 15:15:09 -0800<br>
From: Free Darren Thurston <freedarren@resist.ca><br><br>
Subject: Support Update for Darren Thurston 01/22/06<br>
<br>
You are receiving this message as a result of making an inquiry or <br>
expression support to freedarren@resist.ca. If you wish to be removed
from <br>
further update distributions, please email freedarren@resist.ca and we
<br>
will not include you in future mailings.<br>
<br>
Support Update for Darren Thurston 01/22/06:<br>
<br>
If you have been following the case of the "Eco-Eleven" over
the past few <br>
days, you will know that Darren was indicted on two conspiracy counts
<br>
Thursday afternoon (announced Friday) - Conspiracy to Commit Arson, and
<br>
Conspiracy to Commit Arson and Destruction of an Energy Facility. For
<br>
those of you interested in the full indictment, it can be downloaded at
<br>
<a href="http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/01/332266.shtml">
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/01/332266.shtml</a>.<br>
<br>
In all, eleven people have now been indicted on charges related to 17
<br>
ALF/ELF and unclaimed incidents of arson and property damage that took
<br>
place over a period from 1997-2001.<br>
<br>
Arraignments are expected to happen this Thursday in Eugene, which means
<br>
Darren will be transferred sometime mid-week from Inverness to Lane <br>
County. Please put a hold on all mail you wish to send to him in the next
<br>
few days until we know where he will be imprisoned and for how
long. He <br>
has so far really appreciated all the support by mail, and we will let
you <br>
know as soon as he is able to get post again.<br>
<br>
Although his Federal "ID" charges still stand, it appears at
this point <br>
Darren will not be expected to testify at the Eugene Grand Jury in <br>
February, though he has not yet been formally released from those <br>
proceedings. The recent call we put out for information related to
grand <br>
juries is at this point moot for us, though there is still organizing
<br>
being done against the grand jury since many people are still required to
<br>
appear.<br>
<br>
Despite this latest turn of events, Darren is still holding up well and
is <br>
confident in fighting these latest charges. As you might know, our friend
<br>
is a courageous and committed individual who has faced the prison and
<br>
legal system in the past, and it is heartening to see his spirit remain
<br>
strong in the face of the accusations against him this most recent time
<br>
around. Dan Feiner will continue to represent Darren in the new charges,
<br>
and has provided a tremendous amount of support to us already - so for
<br>
that we are really very thankful.<br>
<br>
There has been a ton of media over the past few days, though we have
taken <br>
a position of non-engagement with reporters at the current time. A
longish <br>
(and not totally horrible) article on Darren ran in the National Post
<br>
yesterday with a photo and can be found online at <br>
<a href="http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=cd1d6a83-6c23-409e-9c61-ed153015b93a&k=11959">
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=cd1d6a83-6c23-409e-9c61-ed153015b93a&k=11959</a>
.<br>
<br>
Background information on Darren's case may be found at <br>
<a href="http://freedarren.org/">http://freedarren.org</a>. We will send
out updates as we know more.<br>
<br>
Gratitude and thanks;<br>
Family and Friends of Darren Thurston<br><br>
<img src="http://www.canada.com/components/images/headings/en_head_canadacom.gif" alt="canada, canadian search engine, free email, canada news">
<br>
Monday » January 23 » 2006<br>
<br>
Canadian indicted for 'domestic terrorism'<br>
Animal rights activist accused of attacks in five American states<br>
<br>
Stewart Bell<br>
National Post<br><br>
Saturday, January 21, 2006<br><br>
<img src="cid:6.2.5.6.2.20060123054928.0272ff50@freedomarchives.org.0" width=210 height=210 alt="[]">
<br>
CREDIT: Ian Smith, CanWest News Service<br>
"I'm protecting voiceless beings from animal exploiters," says
Darren Thurston, who was indicted in the United States on a series of
charges for arson and other crimes linked to radical animal rights groups
between 1996 and 2001.<br><br>
TORONTO - Fourteen years after he was arrested for "liberating"
29 cats from a University of Alberta research lab, a Canadian animal
rights activist has been indicted in Oregon for his alleged role in a
"domestic terrorism" campaign that spanned five Western
states.<br><br>
Darren Todd Thurston is one of 11 suspected members of a Portland-based
cell of animal rights and environmental extremists facing 65 counts of
arson and other charges stemming from incidents between 1996 and 2001,
according to an indictment unsealed yesterday.<br><br>
The group is accused of carrying out 17 attacks that targeted a ski
resort, tree farm, police station, lumber mill, car dealership, meat
company, high-tension power line, government buildings and university
research facilities.<br><br>
"The indictment tells a story of four-and-a-half years of arson,
vandalism, violence and destruction claimed to have been executed on
behalf of the Animal Liberation Front or Earth Liberation Front,
extremist movements known to support acts of domestic terrorism,"
said U.S. Attorney- General Alberto Gonzales.<br><br>
"Specifically, the indictment alleges that a group of defendants who
referred to themselves as 'The Family' worked together with extensive
planning to influence the conduct of government and private businesses
through the use of co-ordinated force, violence, sabotage, intimidation
and coercion."<br><br>
They left a "trail of destruction" that caused millions worth
of damage to private and government property, he said.<br><br>
"Today's indictment proves that we will not tolerate any group that
terrorizes the American people, no matter its intentions or
objectives."<br><br>
Mr. Thurston, 35, has been active in the fringe of the animal rights
movement since his teens. Although he used to enjoy shooting birds, after
reading a pamphlet he stopped eating meat and became the spokesman for a
small band of Edmonton activists called Citizens Organized for Animal
Liberation.<br><br>
At 19, he led protests against the circus, furriers, and deer culls at
CFB-Edmonton.<br><br>
He called for the animals at West Edmonton Mall to be set free, and held
a candlelight vigil against the use of animals in experiments at the
University of Alberta.<br><br>
"I believe animals are just as worthwhile as people," he told
the Edmonton Journal in a 1989 interview. "I'm protecting voiceless
beings from animal exploiters, who have black hearts and don't feel
anything, basically."<br><br>
While he advocated radicalism and civil disobedience, he said he would
not break the law. But in 1993, he pleaded guilty to firebombing three
fish shop trucks and stealing more than two dozen cats from a university
lab. He was sentenced to two years.<br><br>
Four years later, police identified Mr. Thurston as a suspect in an RCMP
investigation into mail bombs and booby-trapped letters that were sent to
a variety of Canadian addresses. He and David Barbarash were charged with
27 counts each, but the charges were stayed in 2000 when police decided
to drop the case rather than disclose documents concerning another
investigation.<br><br>
Mr. Thurston later moved to Portland where, the indictment alleges, he
lived with Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, alias "Country Girl," who has
also been indicted.<br><br>
The indictment accuses Mr. Thurston of taking part in an Oct. 15, 2001,
arson attack at the Litchfield Wild Horse facility in California. The
Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility in a communique publicized
by another Canadian, Mr. Barbarash, the indictment says.<br><br>
He was arrested in Portland on Dec. 7 and charged with possessing a fake
green card and social insurance card, but he now faces more severe
charges of conspiracy to commit arson and destruction of an energy
facility.<br><br>
A search of his home turned up false documents, information on
manufacturing false documents and a book titled Advanced Anarchist
Arsenal: Recipes for Improvised Incendiaries and Explosives.<br><br>
The charges are the result of a lengthy federal investigation called
Operation Backfire that probed a string of sabotage attacks in Oregon,
Wyoming, Washington, California and Colorado.<br><br>
The suspects are accused of using incendiary devices made from timing
devices, milk jugs and plastic buckets filled with petroleum products to
wage their eco-campaign. Eight have been arrested; the other three are
believed to be outside the United States.<br><br>
According to the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) Web site, the group's aim
is to "reduce animal suffering in the world," while the Earth
Liberation Front (ELF) calls itself "an underground movement with no
leadership, membership or official spokesperson."<br><br>
"Terrorism is terrorism, no matter what the motive," FBI
director Robert Mueller told reporters. "There is a clear difference
... between constitutionally protected advocacy, which is the right of
all Americans, and violent, criminal activity. It is one thing to write
concerned letters or to hold peaceful demonstrations. It is another thing
entirely to construct and use improvised explosives or incendiary devices
to harass and intimidate victims by destroying property and to cause
millions of dollars in losses by acts or threats of
violence."<br><br>
The ALF and ELF have also been active in Canada, where they firebombed
two Vancouver butcher shops and a British Columbia hunting outfitter they
accused of "crimes against the Earth." The ELF initials were
spray-painted near two recent fires in Guelph, Ont., in which a Zellers
outlet and a golf and tennis club were torched.<br>
<div align="center">© National Post 2006<br><br>
<br>
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