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<h1><font size=6 color="#FF0000"><b>All These are from Corporate Media
Reports<br><br>
</i></font>Waters gets 6 years for UW
firebombing</b></h1><font size=3>
<a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/367671_waters20.html" eudora="autourl">
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/367671_waters20.html</a><br><br>
By <a href="mailto:paulshukovsky@seattlepi.com">PAUL SHUKOVSKY</a><br>
P-I REPORTER<br><br>
TACOMA -- The 32-year-old violin teacher convicted of taking part in the
firebombing of the University of Washington' Center for Urban
Horticulture seven years ago was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison
Wednesday.<br><br>
Briana Waters was one of five people accused of setting the devastating
May 2001 fire, but the only suspect to go to trial. <br><br>
She was found guilty in March of two counts of arson. Two others pleaded
guilty and testified against her for reduced sentences. Her former
boyfriend, Justin Solondz, is a fugitive. And the fourth killed himself
in jail. <br><br>
The attack -- by the radical Earth Liberation Front against a lab that
they wrongly believed was conducting genetic engineering experiments --
was part of a six-year rampage that began in 1996 and immolated a
Colorado ski resort, science labs, government animal facilities and sport
utility vehicles. No one was hurt in the UW fire, but the building and
valuable research inside was destroyed. It cost $7 million to
rebuild.<br><br>
A key to Wednesday's sentencing hearing in Tacoma was whether actions of
Waters, who acted as a lookout and provided logistics support to her ELF
compatriots, rose to the level of terrorism.<br><br>
Federal prosecutors asserted during a 3 1/2-week trial that Waters
participated in planning, provided a car to the bombers and allowed
Solondz to build firebombs in the garage of the Olympia home she
rented.<br><br>
All these factors, along with the intent of the ELF conspirators to
intimidate the government to change its policies and actions, justify
adding a "terrorism enhancement" in figuring her sentence, the
prosecutors said. Although they could have asked for a sentence of up to
40 years in prison, they asked for 10 years. <br><br>
But Waters' attorney, Neil Fox, sought to scrutinize the government's
definition of terrorist. And he asked the court to sentence his client to
no more than 18 months behind bars.<br><br>
"The court should be cognizant of the misuse of the term
'terrorism.' The term clearly has been manipulated by those seeking to
advance their own political agendas," Fox said in a filing with the
court. "It is the scare word of the day, and the consequences of the
expansion of the use of the term to brand defendants can lead to grave
injustice."<br><br>
Fox argued that Waters should not be subjected to the terrorism
enhancement, which could add decades to her sentence, because the jury
had not found her guilty of conspiring with the other four defendants in
the case. Waters "was not part of the broader ELF/ALF
conspiracy," Fox said in court filings.<br><br>
And he claimed his client, who continues to maintain her innocence, had
no motivation or intent to intimidate anyone in the alleged arson attack.
"There is no evidence that she chose the target or that she even
knew about or cared about" the botanical research taking place
there.<br><br>
The government scoffed at that contention, while acknowledging that her
actions didn't rise to the level of flying a plane into the side of New
York City's World Trade Center.<br><br>
"Although Waters' crime is substantively different from, say, the
attacks of September 11, 2001 -- a fact that is recognized in the United
States' recommendation of a sentence far below" what could have been
asked for, it's clear that it still meets the definition of terrorism,
prosecutors said in court filings.<br><br>
Most of 10 ELF/ALF defendants sentenced recently in Oregon received the
terrorism enhancement in sentencing, the government argued. <br><br>
And prosecutors cited an anonymous ELF communiqué of responsibility
issued by the defendants after the firebombing as proof of a terroristic
intent to intimidate or retaliate against the government.<br><br>
"As long as universities continue to pursue this reckless 'science'
they run the risk of suffering severe losses. Our message remains clear:
We are determined to stop genetic engineering." It was signed
"ELF"<br><br>
"The arson was a terrible crime," prosecutors said.
"Waters and her co-conspirators burned a large university building
devoted to botanical research and teaching. In doing so, they created a
huge fire that easily could have injured or killed either students (who
often worked and slept in the building overnight) or responding
firefighters."<br><br>
To drive home the point, prosecutors submitted a statement from a
professor identified only as DR.<br><br>
"Graduate students lost their work and had to postpone job offers
and additional educational opportunities. This violent act devastated us
and we, as individuals, will never fully recover. They took years away
from us and changed how we look at our fellow human
beings."<br><br>
DR began having panic attacks after the firebombing and ultimately moved
because her address had been listed in the phone book.<br>
<b>P-I reporter Paul Shukovsky can be reached at 206-448-8072 or
<a href="mailto:paulshukovsky@seattlepi.com">
paulshukovsky@seattlepi.com</a>.<br><br>
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<br>
</font><h1><b>6-year sentence for ecoterror arson at U. of Washington
</b></h1><font size=3>
<a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008006678_apwaecoterrortrial1stldwritethru.html" eudora="autourl">
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008006678_apwaecoterrortrial1stldwritethru.html<br>
</a>The woman convicted in an ecoterror attack at the University of
Washington has been sentenced to six years in prison.<br>
TACOMA, Wash. <br><br>
The woman convicted in an ecoterror attack at the University of
Washington has been sentenced to six years in prison.<br><br>
KIRO-TV reports that Briana Waters asked for mercy because she has a
3-year-old daughter.<br><br>
Prosecutors had recommended a 10-year sentence. Her lawyer asked for no
more than a year-and-a-half.<br><br>
Waters was taken into custody after Thursday's sentencing in federal
court in Tacoma. She had been convicted March 6 of arson, and her lawyer
is working on an appeal.<br><br>
The 32-year-old from Berkeley, Calif., was an Evergreen State College
student who acted as a lookout in 2001 when others set fire to the Center
for Urban Horticulture in Seattle. The Earth Liberation Front claimed
responsibility because it believed, mistakenly, a researcher was
genetically modifying poplar trees.<br><br>
<br><br>
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