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11 eco-terrorists indicted in arson conspiracy in Northwest
Cleanup at home. Eleven people have been indicted in a series of arsons in five Western states that have been claimed by the radical groups Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, the Justice Department said Friday. The 65-count indictment said the suspects are responsible for 17 incidents in California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, including sabotaging a high-tension power line, in a conspiracy that dates back to 1996. The indictment was returned Thursday by a federal grand jury in Eugene, Ore., and unsealed Friday. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller were expected to talk about the indictment later Friday at a news conference in Washington. Eight defendants have been arrested. Three people remain at large, and are believed to be outside the United States, according to a statement from the Justice Department. In Eugene, two defendants, Jonathan Christopher Mark Paul, 39, and Suzanne Nicole "India" Savoie, 28, were both ordered held without bail, pending further hearings. A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Eugene accused Paul, a firefighter, of setting firebombs that burned down a horse slaughterhouse in 1997. The ALF claimed responsibility for that fire, which caused an estimated $1 million in damage. Savoie, who works in a group home for the developmentally disabled, is accused of serving as a lookout for a fire in 2001 that destroyed offices of a lumber mill. The ELF claimed responsibility for that fire. The other defendants are Joseph Dibee, Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, Sarah Kendall Harvey, Daniel McGowan, Stanislas Meyerhoff, Josephine Overaker, Rebecca Rubin, Darren Todd Thurston and Kevin Tubbs. Authorities have said Gerlach, 28, is connected to six cases, including the 1998 firebombing of a lodge at the Vail, Colo. ski resort, considered to be one of the costliest crimes linked to ecoterrorism in the country. The blazes caused $12 million in damage as they charred chairlifts, a restaurant and a building. The ELF claimed responsibility for the fires, saying they were set because the resort had expanded into lynx habitat. Dibee, Overaker and Rubin have not been arrested. The other six were arrested in December. Using improvised incendiary devices made from milk jugs, petroleum products and homemade timers, they carried out attacks between 1996 and 2001, the indictment alleged. Targets included U.S. Forest Service ranger stations, U.S. Bureau of Land Management wild horse facilities, lumber companies, meat processing companies, a ski area and the power line, the indictment said. Posted by: Frank G 2006-01-20 |
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