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Earth Liberation Front Terrorist Gets 22 Years in Prison for Anti-Biotech Arson
The Associated Press reports the good news that justice has been done 10 years after Earth Liberation Front radicals set fire to a Michigan State University crop biotech laboratory:
A radical activist who helped set a $1 million fire to protest research on genetically modified crops was sentenced Thursday to nearly 22 years in prison _ even more than the prosecution recommended.
Marie Mason decided to "elevate her grievances beyond the norms of civilized society" through fire and destruction, U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney said. The case _ which was prosecuted as domestic terrorism _ was "about an abandonment of the marketplace of ideas," he added.
What frankenfood horror was Mason trying to prevent?
At MSU, Mason and [her then-husband] Ambrose targeted a campus office that held records on research related to moth-resistant potatoes for poor parts of Africa. Computers, file cabinets and desks were doused with a flammable liquid. Vapors contributed to an explosion, and the fire got out of control.
Whole story here.
Addendum: Obviously one can't be sure that the potatoes under development at MSU would have made it out of the lab, but they sure would have been useful in West Africa right now where swarms of moth caterpillars are ravaging food crops:
The black, hairy caterpillars are about three centimeters long and are spreading quickly as adult moths can fly great distances at night.,,
The areas affected are some of Liberia's richest agricultural zones where much of the nation's cassava, plantains, bananas, and potatoes are grown.
|2.6.09 @ 4:09PM|#
Assuming he's guilty,* it's a just sentence.
IOW, HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!!
* With our justice system, that caveat is always required.
|2.6.09 @ 4:21PM|#
Goddamn Africans! They'll eat their moth-ridden potatoes and fucking like it. Racist scientists trying to curb their authentic soulful third-world starvation...
qminus1|2.6.09 @ 4:28PM|#
There's a bit of irony here. The eco-terrorists were caught by a
guy looking to recycle some cardboard. Classic.
"The investigation was cold until spring 2007, when a man looking
for scrap cardboard found gas masks, an M-80 explosive, maps and
anti-government writings in a suburban Detroit trash bin."
|2.6.09 @ 4:30PM|#
These people are exactly like the nutjobs that firebomb abortion
clinics. Seriously.
No, wait, they are actually worse, because they are elevating the
genetic integrity of plantlife to sacred status.
By contrast, the abortion-clinic bombers are at least focusing on
human life at some level. Which at least has some kind of
functional working definition that isn't in itself absurd, and has
traditionally been the subject of moral reasoning.
Not that I have any sympathy for abortion clinic bombers, but at
least their moral argument is in the same ballpark that the rest of
us are playing in.
|2.6.09 @ 4:31PM|#
Marie Mason needs to be locked up for a long time. The fact that she will be, doesn't make me happy. Here's hoping the entire enviro-terrorist movement withers away.
Bee|2.6.09 @ 4:31PM|#
"They'll eat their moth-ridden potatoes and fucking like
it."
Moths are a great source of protine (per the UN's FAO):
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/32443/title/Insects_(the_original_white_meat)
Ambrose |2.6.09 @ 4:32PM|#
"I hope that Ambrose is already, or will soon be, doing a
similar amount of time."
Yes and I swallow too.
|2.6.09 @ 4:33PM|#
Racist scientists trying to curb their authentic soulful
third-world starvation...
Cultural imperialism'd!!
Probably sexist, too, because I betcha was the womyn's job to sort
through the moth-infested crops. They just want to put a lot of
womyn out of work!
|2.6.09 @ 4:33PM|#
Bet she was self-righteous. Right up 'til the sentencing. Now
she might be singing a different tune.
They should feed her a steady diet of those moth imperiled potatoes
for the duration of her sentence.
|2.6.09 @ 4:34PM|#
[A] man ... found gas masks, an M-80 explosive, maps and
anti-government writings in a suburban Detroit trash
bin.
That sounds exactly like the opening scene from an episode of Law
& Order. Just before Jerry Orbach says something like, "And
they say hippies don't clean up after themselves."
BONK BONK
|2.6.09 @ 4:36PM|#
She's an asshole, but 22 years for destroying property seems
excessive.
22 years for vandalism is excessive. 22 years for a serial
arsonist, not so much.
Pedantic Savant|2.6.09 @ 4:37PM|#
1) usually the opening scene of Law & Order is the discovery
of the victim, not evidence
2) Jerry Orbach is dead.
|2.6.09 @ 4:40PM|#
Arson is always treated much more harshly than mere destruction of property, because fire is so dangerous.
|2.6.09 @ 4:40PM|#
gas masks, an M-80 explosive, maps and anti-government
writings
That sounds exactly like my bedroom in high school.
Pedantic Savant|2.6.09 @ 4:41PM|#
correction, it always starts with the victim. Why else would they send the homicide detectives?
|2.6.09 @ 4:42PM|#
"A radical activist who helped set a $1 million fire to protest
research on genetically modified crops was sentenced Thursday to
nearly 22 years in prison _ even more than the prosecution
recommended."
She didn't start a fire to 'protest' anything. She committed arson
to DESTROY the research. An act like this shouldn't get the dignity
of being akin to protest, which is what the judge stated as
well.
And arson isn't just the destruction of property, people get hurt
and die in fires. Firefighters put their lives at risk, and the
lives of other people are put at risk if there were to be a
concurrent fire.
Horatio|2.6.09 @ 4:43PM|#
"[A] man ... found gas masks, an M-80 explosive, maps and
anti-government writings in a suburban Detroit trash bin."
It looks like someone..
[puts on sunglasses]
should have burned after reading.
YEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
|2.6.09 @ 4:50PM|#
She's an asshole, but 22 years for destroying property seems
excessive.
Not to some.
Fuck arsonists. I will listen to no excuses, fuck them
all.
|2.6.09 @ 5:00PM|#
22 years seems excessive to me, but not grossly so.
Arson of buildings - not just structures, but buildings people
could potentially be in - is enormously dangerous. You don't know
who could be in there, and the fire department is going to go in
there to check once they arrive.
Maybe 15 years would be better, but burning down a building is
about as serious as a crime can get without hurting someone.
Mr. Wipple|2.6.09 @ 5:01PM|#
"correction, it always starts with the victim. Why else would
they send the homicide detectives?"
I'll bet you spend hours a day just cleaning your ass.
Gray Lady|2.6.09 @ 5:02PM|#
"An act like this shouldn't get the dignity of being akin to
protest, which is what the judge stated as well."
Relax. It was written by a journalist.
|2.6.09 @ 5:29PM|#
Good job. I needed some good news.
Now if we could please, Please, PLEASE put the whole planet wise to
the murderous legacy of the Mother of all Environmentalists, Rachel
Carson.
My son's grade school is named after that cupid stunt. Of course,
this was good for one delicious moment, when my son asked the
inevitable question, "Dad, who is Rachel Carson?" I don't think
that "She was a lunatic who has the blood of millions on her hands"
was the answer he quite anticipated. :-)
|2.6.09 @ 5:32PM|#
"I hope that Ambrose is already, or will soon be, doing a
similar amount of time."
Frank Ambrose cooperated with the FBI, going undercover to record
178 conversations with the ELF tree huggers, and got nine years.
That's some payback to your ex-wife.
Hey Marie, I hope you really enjoy the unspoiled natural
surroundings of your new home at the Greybar Hotel for the next 22
years! Oh, and don't drop the soap!
Sweeeeet!
|2.6.09 @ 5:36PM|#
A terrorist arsonist should get FAR, FAR more than 22 years. I'd
prefer that it be a capital crime, but at least life with out
parole.
I really don't understand the soft on crime libertarians here. And
the sentiment that it was only a property crime is more in line
with The Nation than libertarians.
|2.6.09 @ 5:37PM|#
22 years seems excessive? You might want to consult the janitorial staff and firefighters whose lives were put at risk. And the scientists who may have seen their life's work literally go up in smoke. To me, it seems a bit on the light side.
|2.6.09 @ 5:37PM|#
Not that I have any sympathy for abortion clinic bombers,
but at least their moral argument is in the same ballpark that the
rest of us are playing in.
I am not in the same moral galaxy as ELF.
Plant DNA?!?!
Fuck them.
B|2.6.09 @ 5:39PM|#
You just gotta love how the AP calls this bitch a radical activist instead of a terrorist. Reminds me of the "militants" in Gaza and the "insurgents" in Iraq.
wingnutx|2.6.09 @ 5:45PM|#
Relax, she'll be paroled in 10, and running an educational foundation shortly thereafter.
Douglas Gray|2.6.09 @ 5:58PM|#
A crime against property, even expensive scientific stuff, isn't worth a 22 year prison sentence. A person who burns down a residence is worse. Do they get 22 years?
|2.6.09 @ 6:11PM|#
So, this self-absorbed little twat wants people in Africa to
starve?
Toss her in jail, I'm sure the Aryan Brotherhood's ladies auxiliary
has a place for her.
-jcr
|2.6.09 @ 6:19PM|#
22 years for destroying property seems excessive.
It's not just property destruction. It's also an attempt to coerce
other people into abandoning their livelihood, and let still other
people suffer from hunger that could be prevented.
-jcr
wingnutx|2.6.09 @ 6:24PM|#
A person who burns down a residence is worse.
She has admitted to burning residences. This is one of a long
string of arsons.
http://freemarie.org/
|2.6.09 @ 6:26PM|#
Douglas Gray | February 6, 2009, 5:58pm | #
A crime against property, even expensive scientific stuff, isn't
worth a 22 year prison sentence. A person who burns down a
residence is worse. Do they get 22 years?
The MSU fire was only one of thirteen she confessed to. She also
burned houses under construction and some boats. And she celebrated
her crimes and called upon others to follow her example. She is
evil and violent. 22 years doesn't seem out of proportion to
me.
Anti GMO Patriot|2.6.09 @ 6:43PM|#
What's more important is the innocent plants and animals that
would suffer if these frankenpotatoes ever got out into the
biosphere. Nevermind talk of "kill switch" genes to stop them from
spreading, that's all scientist gobbledygook! Nevermind talk of
"horizontal genetic transfer" that never happened in nature
either!
The people in Africa were going to die anyway. If they all would
just put down their rifles and go to work in organic farms, and use
human-powered machines to do all their labor, then they'd live in a
free and happy socialist paradise!
If they do that I will move there, as soon as I burn through my
daddy's trust fund.
cunnivore|2.6.09 @ 7:00PM|#
[A] man ... found gas masks, an M-80 explosive, maps and
anti-government writings in a suburban Detroit trash
bin.
Typical environmentalist hypocrisy. Throwing recyclable paper in
the trash.
While I think the sentence is appropriate, I'm a bit leery of
calling this type of thing "terrorism". Was the arsonist capable
of, and intending to, frighten significant sections of the
population into pushing for anti-biotech legislation, for
instance?
And terrorizing one person or a small group of people is not
terrorism. A mafioso who picks off members of a competing family
one by one is not practicing terrorism.
cunnivore|2.6.09 @ 7:05PM|#
It's not just property destruction. It's also an attempt to
coerce other people into abandoning their livelihood, and let still
other people suffer from hunger that could be prevented.
I suppose you support hate crime laws then. Particularly bad
motives for committing the crime should not affect how it is
punished.
|2.6.09 @ 7:12PM|#
Was the arsonist capable of, and intending to, frighten
significant sections of the population into pushing for
anti-biotech legislation, for instance?
She certainly intended to frighten genetics researchers into
abandoning research on genetic engineering.
And I don't agree that terrorizing one small segment of the
population isn't terrorism.
Just because blacks only consititute 2% of the population in some
county doesn't mean that the KKK burning a cross on a black persons
lawn doesn't count as terrorism in that place.
It would be totally illogical to say it only counts as terrorism in
paces where blacks are in the majority.
Heck, if the KKK went into downtown Detroit and burned a cross, I
would grudgingly admire their courage and count it an act of
protest.
|2.6.09 @ 7:14PM|#
"A person who burns down a residence is worse.
She has admitted to burning residences. This is one of a long
string of arsons."
Stupid bitch should have her neck stretched then.
|2.6.09 @ 7:18PM|#
I suppose you support hate crime laws then. Particularly bad
motives for committing the crime should not affect how it is
punished.
The problem with hate crimes is the focus exclusively on emotional
motivation. It shoudl be more narrowly focused on violence intended
to acheive a political or social goal.
I.e. Just because someone is prejudiced against gays, doesn't mean
that getting into a fight with and beating up a gay guy is intended
to terrorize the gay community.
That shouldn't be more severely punished.
On the other hand, if a gang of straight guys gets in a pickup
truck, drives down to a gay bar and starts smashing up the place,
that's a premeditated attempt to intimidate the gay community.
Which should be more severely punished.
|2.6.09 @ 7:22PM|#
Heck, if the KKK went into downtown Detroit and burned a
cross, I would grudgingly admire their courage and count it an act
of protest.
I would admire their charred, dismembered, mutilated corpses.
cunnivore|2.6.09 @ 7:34PM|#
How about if a guy robs a string of convenience stores,
terrorizing convenience store employees both at the places they rob
and other stores in the area. Is that terrorism?
If not, I don't get how it's more laudable to commit a crime in the
pursuit of money than in the pursuit of political goals. Punish the
crime, not the motive. That will take care of itself.
cunnivore|2.6.09 @ 7:35PM|#
Heck, if the KKK went into downtown Detroit and burned a
cross, I would grudgingly admire their courage and count it an act
of protest.
do you admire the 9/11 hijackers?
|2.6.09 @ 7:42PM|#
res⋅i⋅dence [rez-i-duhns] Show IPA Pronunciation
-noun
1. the place, esp. the house, in which a person lives or resides;
dwelling place; home: Their residence is in New York City.
2. a structure serving as a dwelling or home, esp. one of large
proportion and superior quality: They have a summer residence in
Connecticut.
Nope. Didn't burn down any residences. Unfinished, unoccupied
homes.
If "terrorism" has now expanded to include acts that neither harm
persons, nor are intended to harm persons, then we need to invent a
new word for what "terrorism" used to mean.
|2.6.09 @ 7:44PM|#
Oh, and another reason why arson is a particularly serious crime, worse than other forms of vandalism or property destruction, is because spray paint and smashed windows can't spread.
|2.6.09 @ 7:51PM|#
The flip side of treating your opinion of her cause - anti-GMO -
as an aggravating factor would be to say that it should be
considered a mitigating factor if an identical arsonist targeted an
environmental group.
I can agree with the concept of treating political violence as
especially dangerous and worthy of sanction, but it has to be
considered in a content-neutral manner.
|2.6.09 @ 8:17PM|#
I suppose you support hate crime laws then.
Nope. I support laws against threatening people. A threat, coupled
with a clear and present danger (like it's being made by an
arsonist) deprives the person threatened of their peace of
mind.
-jcr
B|2.6.09 @ 8:38PM|#
"I suppose you support hate crime laws then. Particularly bad
motives for committing the crime should not affect how it is
punished."
Bullshit. The bitch used violence to try and affect a particular
political or social outcome. That is the textbook definition of
terrorism, and she should be punished accordingly. It is by sheer
luck that her serial arson did not kill someone.
|2.6.09 @ 8:38PM|#
The problem with charging an arsonist who torches an empty building the same as one who torches a full one is that it removes the incentives from a potential arsonist to make sure the building is empty.
B|2.6.09 @ 8:48PM|#
"The problem with charging an arsonist who torches an empty
building the same as one who torches a full one is that it removes
the incentives from a potential arsonist to make sure the building
is empty."
Both have committed arson and should therefore be charged the same.
However, if the building is full of people then you also charge the
person with attempted murder or murder if a person is killed. Even
if a person torches an empty building (did the arson take the time
to check for occupants)there is still a possibility the fire could
spread to occupied buildings or firefighters could be injured or
killed fighting the fire.
|2.6.09 @ 10:06PM|#
This was an incredibly senseless and stupid act. Fortunately,
ignorance is not an excuse.
Improving the gene pool, one idiot at a time.
Charlie
|2.6.09 @ 10:19PM|#
If "terrorism" has now expanded to include acts that neither
harm persons, nor are intended to harm persons, then we need to
invent a new word for what "terrorism" used to mean.
Done and done.
|2.6.09 @ 10:41PM|#
I hope she's made to farm then fed those same potatoes in prison, with (organic, free-range, Fair Trade) Nutraloaf as variation.
|2.7.09 @ 8:45AM|#
I support rendition to a starving are of Africa for further punishment as they see fit, after every day of her 22 years is served.
Fluffy|2.7.09 @ 8:56AM|#
If "terrorism" has now expanded to include acts that neither
harm persons, nor are intended to harm persons, then we need to
invent a new word for what "terrorism" used to mean.
In this specific case, if this were the only arson she had
committed I would consider the sentence excessive. But for a serial
arsonist a 15-25 year sentence is in the ballpark.
But I would say that you're the one changing the definition of
terrorism, joe. Before the 9/11 attacks made the word "terrorism"
the most explosive word in the American political lexicon, no one
would have batted an eyelash at describing people who engaged in
acts of spectacular property destruction to make a political
statement as "terrorists". The firebombing of abortion clinics
referenced above is a good example. Before 9/11 it would have been
uncontroversial to call such persons terrorists.
Neu Mejican|2.7.09 @ 1:20PM|#
From elf: presented without comment
http://earth-liberation-front.org/
A critical evaluation of past ELF actions exposes the obvious: arson is a dangerous and irrational strategy. There are no winners. Torching sport utility vehicles, ski resorts, research labs and McMansions, releases huge amounts of toxic gasses into the atmosphere - creating far more greenhouse gasses than if they were left alone. The end result: everything is rebuilt or replaced by doubling the burden on the environment and taxpayers. An exercise in futility and self-defeat.
Those who are now serving prison sentences are effectively removed from the battle to save our planet. We are all losers in that regard, even the Feds. If anything can be learned from Operation Backfire, it is the necessity to channel our frustrations and concern for earth's welfare into positive direct action. Build - don't destroy. Build consensus and public support. Get an education and build a better world and future.
|2.7.09 @ 3:03PM|#
Abortion clinic bombers
Environmentalist arsonists
Islamic suicide bombers
Nazi killers
Soviet tyrants
Maoist butchers
Castroite despots
Assorted African & South American dictators
Their epistemology is all the same: the emotionalism of faith.
Faith = (sooner or later) Force.
Perhaps more importantly, though, is that their ethics is precisely
the same (and is that which drove them to their epistemology): the
morality of self-immolation, i.e., self-sacrifice.
It requires a leap of faith, does it not, to believe that suicide
is moral? And, as well, to believe that you can cash in on
that.
Will Potter|2.7.09 @ 3:49PM|#
Wow, I would think folks at Reason, of all places, would be
critical of the government wrapping up more and more people as
"terrorists." It doesn't matter how you feel about environmental
issues, and it doesn't matter if you agree with Mason or support
anything about her: the real danger here is the government pushing
to label people as terrorists in order to push a political agenda.
It's part of a sweeping corporate and government campaign many
activists are calling the Green Scare. An introduction to that is
available at www.GreenIsTheNewRed.com/blog/green-scare
The folks at H&R have always seemed to be, I dunno, CRITICAL of
giving the government sweeping, unchecked powers. This should be no
exception.
Veritas|2.7.09 @ 5:07PM|#
The reality based community is just a bunch of Luddites.
Why am I not surprised?
|2.8.09 @ 8:53AM|#
@Will Potter
"Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those acts which are
intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an
ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately
target or disregard the safety of non-combatants"
seems to satisfy most criteria according to the usual definition of
terrorism.
You seem to be a member of the green movement and this definately
seems to be a case of forgiving those in your camp for crimes that
people in the other camp would be labelled a criminal for
doing.
With this mindset, actions are judged by the perception of the
ideology of the actor.This has probably been the at the root of
most of the greatest evils in human history.
On greenisthenewred
I'd say its the new religion (and red took that status for a while
certainly outside of the USA).
I actually was writting a report on the renewables energy sector
for the EU a few weeks back and there's a definatly need for new
technologies and innovation. There's no doubt for me that greentec
is not only enevitable but increibly important for economic
growth.
The green movement however encompasses far more than a scientific
project. It gives people a motvation for life and a connection with
the universe.
I'd say that this is a nice thing.
however this is spiritual thought and as such has the potential to
be used to motivate people to carry out irrational, luddite and
possibly harmful behaviour.
The ELF seem to be on this track to me
Taktix®|2.8.09 @ 10:44AM|#
A crime against property, even expensive scientific stuff,
isn't worth a 22 year prison sentence. A person who burns down a
residence is worse. Do they get 22 years?
People don't realize how dangerous a structure fire can be because
we have modern fire mitigation techniques.
Remeber Rome? Chicago? Atlanta? California every summer?
A small "protest" fire in a building can burn an entire city down
under the proper conditions. We do a damn good job of preventing
them than we did, say, 50 years ago, but a raging fire is still a
raging fire, and we're lucky that the lab fire didn't spread.
Arson, in most places, is treated as a capital offense along with
rape and murder because a fire can fucking kill you...
|2.8.09 @ 1:06PM|#
I would admire their charred, dismembered, mutilated
corpses.
Well, that too.
That came off a little wrong.
What I mean is that the KKK burning a cross in a overwhelmingly
black ghetto area isn't terrorism, because it's not an act capable
of inducing any terror in anyone there, and is more likely to get
them killed. It's more like saying "hey we're here", and inviting
attack.
I'm just pointing out how cunnivore's argument that terrorizing a
"small group of people" isn't really terrorism.
In a lot of cases the group HAS to be small in order to be
terrorized.
It's flipping impossible to terrorize an armed majority that hates
you.
|2.8.09 @ 2:37PM|#
"In a lot of cases the group HAS to be small in order to be
terrorized"
as a Brit I'd just like to say that that is complete bullshit
Muslims make up less than 10% of the UK population
but when a group of young British Muslims bombed london I'd say
that was an act of terrorism.
To say that this is not terrorism just because the perpetrators
come from an ethnic minority is ridiculous.
Worse still if an ethnic minority carries out a terrorist act
there's the likely hood of repercusive acts on other innocent
members of the ethnic minority group. Some thugs threw a brick at
my mates mum after 911 just cus she's a Muslim.
|2.8.09 @ 4:57PM|#
Argh. You're not understanding me.
I'm not at all referring to the size of the group doing the
terrorizing.
I'm referring ot the size of the group being terrorized
.
Cunnivore made the following comment above:
And terrorizing one person or a small group of people is not
terrorism.
By which he/she meant that since only a handful of genetics
researchers were being targetted that isn't "really"
terrorism.
My point is that that logic makes no sense - there are lot of tiny
minorities who are much more easily terrorized *because* they are
small.
|2.8.09 @ 5:39PM|#
Fluffy,
The firebombing of abortion clinics referenced above is a good
example. Before 9/11 it would have been uncontroversial to call
such persons terrorists. Abortion clinic bombers (and
shooters) have killed dozens of people. Yeah, they were and are
commonly described as terrorists as a result.
Not quite the same thing here.
Abortion clinic bombers
Environmentalist arsonists
Islamic suicide bombers
Nazi killers
Soviet tyrants
Maoist butchers
Castroite despots
Assorted African & South American dictators
Of these eight groups, seven have a body count.
Veritas | February 7, 2009, 5:07pm | #
The reality based community is just a bunch of Luddites.
Why am I not surprised?
Nevermind that even ELF denounce arsons like this, nevermind the
Democratic Party and left blogosphere. Any reason to tar the half
the country that doesn't vote the way you do will work.
joe|2.8.09 @ 5:44PM|#
I think cunnivore's point is that there is a distinction between
what is most commonly called "terrorism" and what is commonly
called "extortion."
When a mob boss has two thugs trash somebody's car to keep the
owner from informing on them, or to make him pay them "protection"
money, involves the use of force to coerce someone into acceding to
your demands, but it's something different from terrorism.
|2.9.09 @ 11:58AM|#
I'd disagree. A lot of what the mob does (or did back in the
day) IS terrorism. Silencing informers, punishment beatings,
etc.
it's not all about extortion. Sometimes it's just about enforcing a
code of silence in the community. Back when there were large
italian speaking slum neighborhoods, I'd totally call it terrorism.
When people do this in Columbia or Nicaragua, you'd call them
"death squads".
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