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TACOMA - A key participant in the 2001 arson that destroyed the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture was sentenced Friday to five years in federal prison. Jennifer L. Kolar, 33, of Seattle also was ordered to pay more than $7.1 million in restitution in connection with the fire, which also destroyed priceless research projects and endangered plants. The sentencing, by U.S. District Judge Franklin D. Burgess, came after Kolar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson, two counts of arson, one count of attempted arson and using a destructive device during a crime of violence. Kolar was part...

Software engineer Jennifer Kolar is to be sentenced this week in federal court for her role in Earth Liberation Front arsons, including one at the University of Washington. Her time in prison will be reduced because she turned state's witness, but that doesn't mitigate the fact she is now regarded as a snitch by peers and could be labeled a terrorist by the government.By Kim McDonald "Don't hang up," FBI Special Agent Jane Quimby told Jennifer Kolar on Dec. 10, 2006. "There were arrests and there is a target letter for you." She gave Kolar the name and number...

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. Briana Waters was one of five people accused of setting the devastating May 2001 fire, but the only suspect to go to trial. 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.

The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have...

PORTLAND, Ore. – Radical environmentalist Tre Arrow on Tuesday pleaded guilty to arson charges as part of a deal with prosecutors that will keep him behind bars for more than two years. Arrow, who legally changed his name from Michael Scarpitti, was charged with firebombing three cement trucks at Ross Island Sand & Gravel in Portland and setting fire to logging trucks and a tractor near Estacada. On his Web site, the 34-year-old said recently he did not want to risk receiving a life prison sentence and called the plea deal an offer he "couldn't refuse." On Tuesday, he entered...

PORTLAND, Ore. - An environmental activist and former fugitive who once won thousands of votes in a congressional election pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges under a deal that would send him to prison for two years. Tre Arrow, 34, pleaded guilty to the destruction of concrete-mixing trucks in Portland in April 2001 and to firebombing logging trucks at a contested logging sale near Mount Hood in June 2001. He had faced up to 40 years in prison if convicted of two counts of arson. In a separate case, a radical environmentalist who helped federal officials round up a militant...

The activist pleads guilty in two arsons and will serve at the Sheridan federal prisonTre Arrow, a radical environmentalist who was once one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of arson. Appearing before U.S. District Judge James Redden, Arrow agreed to serve to 78 months in federal prison, with credit for time served since March 2004 in jails in Canada and the United States. Arrow, who will be formally sentenced Aug. 12, will serve about two years and four months at the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution. His sentence could be further reduced by 54 days...

Federal prosecutors are seeking a 10-year prison sentence for Briana Waters, a California woman convicted in March by a federal grant jury of assisting in the 2001 Earth Liberation Front arson that destroyed the University of Washington's Urban Horticulture Center. That recommendation includes a "terrorism enhancement," according to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors Wednesday in U.S. District Court. The UW arson sought to strike a blow against genetic engineering of poplar trees, and federal prosecutors say that meets the legal definition of a violent act "calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion," according...

Last month, three animal rights activists were arrested at a U researcher's home. To exhibit their dedicated effort in protesting Salt Lake City's new ordinance prohibiting demonstrations within 100 feet of a residence, one of the protesters actually asked to be arrested. Harassing scientists at their homes has become the newest way for animal activists to display their opinions. It doesn't seem to matter that the scientists are obeying the laws governing animal research. No evidence or proof of wrongdoing has been discovered, and the U wouldn't be permitted to conduct research on animals if it didn't comply with federal...

PORTLAND, Ore. – Tre Arrow, a radical environmentalist who was once one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives, has announced on his Web site he has accepted a plea deal on federal arson and conspiracy charges. Arrow had entered a not guilty plea. His attorney, Paul T. Loney, confirmed on Wednesday Arrow “is changing his plea” and a hearing date has been set for next Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney's office in Portland did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Arrow, 34, who has legally changed his name from Michael Scarpitti, is charged in a 14-count federal indictment with helping to...

VIENNA, Austria — Austrian authorities say they are questioning 10 animal rights activists suspected of arson, sabotage and other crimes. Investigators say six of the suspects have been placed in pretrial detention for their alleged involvement in militant animal rights groups. Officials allege that the suspects are behind numerous arson fires and vandalism targeting food, clothing, pharmaceutical and agricultural companies. Prosecutors say the 10 were arrested earlier this week after a monthslong investigation into radical animal rights groups. Austrian media reported today that one of the suspects has begun a hunger strike while in custody. Investigators say the suspects used...

Invoking the Red Scare of the 1950s, some environmentalists claim the federal government is committing something similar against the green movement of the 2000s. Of course, it could simply be vigorous enforcement of laws against violence and property damage. According to court documents, Briana Waters, convicted in the 2001 arson at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture, is afraid that by remaining in prison she will lose her deep connection with her three year old daughter, Kalliope. She has justification to be worried about her sentencing on Friday, May 30. Throughout the grand jury process, the indictments,...

An environmental activist has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to destroy a Northern California dam, a genetics lab and other targets. Eric McDavid, 29, of Foresthill, was convicted in March for masterminding what FBI agents described as an eco-terrorist plot in the name of the Earth Liberation Front. The group has claimed credit for arsons across the West. McDavid's defense lawyer argued that his client was a victim of entrapment by an FBI informant. Two co-conspirators pleaded guilty and testified against McDavid. They are awaiting sentencing. According to court testimony, the three considered bombing...

The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for raiding a fur farm in Jefferson on Monday, releasing mink and destroying breeding records. The front, described by the government as one of the nation's leading domestic terrorist organizations, wrote that it freed about 40 domesticated mink from the Jefferson Fur Farm to give them a chance at survival. The note was signed ALF-Cascadia. "These animals are not capitalist commodities to be bought and sold for fashion or vanity, but unique individuals deserving of liberation from human exploitation," said the note, released today by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office in...

The captain and first officer of the anti-sealing ship the Farley Mowat were due to appear in court in Sydney, N.S., on Sunday, a day after their arrest off the west coast of Newfoundland. They have been charged with interfering with the seal hunt after a confrontation with a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker two weeks ago. Their vessel was boarded and seized Saturday in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by RCMP officers, working with officials from the federal Fisheries Department and the coast guard... Paul Watson of the international group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which owns the vessel, said its...

When a luxury housing development in Washington was torched, it seemed an open and shut case. The Earth Liberation Front was to blame. But was it? Does it even exist? And why is the Bush government intent on casting 'eco-terrorists' as public enemy number one? John Vidal reportsEarly last month five large half-built houses on the "Street of Dreams", an opulent development in the quiet Washington state suburb of Woodinville near Seattle, caught fire. Three buildings were gutted and two were seriously smoke-damaged to the tune of about $7m. The fire brigades took six hours to put the fires out,...

For nearly seven years, the nation has turned its terror focus on Al Qaeda and the hunt for Usama bin Laden. But there is a domestic terror threat that federal officials still consider priority No. 1 — eco-terrorism. The torching of luxury homes in the swank Seattle suburb of Woodinville earlier this month served as a reminder that the decades-long war with militant environmentalists on American soil has not ended. "It remains what we would probably consider the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat, because they have successfully continued to conduct different types of attacks in and around the country," said...

A radical environmentalist was sentenced Thursday to one year and one day in federal prison for speaking publicly about how to make a homemade Molotov cocktail. Rodney Coronado apologized for his past use of violent tactics in the name of animal rights and the environment, and said he had cut his ties to groups, including the Earth Liberation Front. "I have done things in my past that I now regret," Coronado told U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Miller. He said he wanted to serve his sentence and then get on with his life in Tucson, Ariz. The 41-year-old activist pleaded...

A radical environmentalist was sentenced Thursday to one year and one day in federal prison for speaking publicly about how to make a homemade Molotov cocktail. Rodney Coronado apologized for his past use of violent tactics in the name of animal rights and the environment, and said he had cut his ties to groups, including the Earth Liberation Front. "I have done things in my past that I now regret," Coronado told U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Miller. He said he wanted to serve his sentence and then get on with his life in Tucson, Ariz. The 41-year-old activist pleaded...

U.S. prosecutors are asking that convicted eco-arsonist Briana Waters be held in jail pending her sentencing in federal court because she was involved in another Earth Liberation Front arson at a horse ranch in California, according to court documents. The U.S. Attorney's Office says it will introduce evidence of her participation in that fire in hopes of ensuring a lengthy prison sentence for her conviction on two counts of arson stemming from a May 2001 fire at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. Waters was convicted by a federal jury in Tacoma last week following four days of...

Earth Liberation Front named in alleged eco-terrorism incident at Michigan State University Posted by The Associated Press March 11, 2008 14:31PM Categories: Breaking News EAST LANSING -- Federal authorities say four people have been charged in a 1999 arson fire at Michigan State University and were working on behalf of a radical environmental group. The government said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference that the four named in an indictment were affiliated with the Earth Liberation Front. It's an underground organization that has been listed among the FBI's top domestic terrorism targets. The Dec. 31, 1999 fire caused $1 million...

Do the crime, do the time. That’s the rule in this country; there’s no mommy exception. If there were, environmental radical Briana Waters might not be looking at hard time after her conviction in Tacoma on Thursday on two counts of arson. Waters, a winsome 32-year-old mother, used to a be member of a violent Earth Liberation Front cell known as “The Family.” The Family was into torching other people’s property – including homes – it considered threats to the environment. It did a lot of this. One of its acts of ecoterror was the burning of the University of...

VIDEO of Street of Dream homes after the arson. Interview with builder, Steve Pack.

TACOMA — Jurors weighing the fate of Briana Waters struggled with a charge that would have sent the 32-year-old mother and violin teacher to prison for 30 years. Their verdict, delivered Thursday in a packed federal courtroom, recognized her participation in the 2001 arson at a University of Washington research center, but also her limited role in the crime and the modest prison sentences expected to be given to others involved. The arson was committed in the name of the Earth Liberation Front. While jurors convicted the Oakland, Calif., woman of two counts of arson, they deadlocked on three other...

A jury has found Briana Waters guilty of two counts of arson in the 2001 burning of the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture by members of the Earth Liberation Front.....Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Bartlett says the case was a success now that more than a dozen people involved have been brought to justice. "I think it sends an incredibly strong message, and that is, when you choose to become involved in these types of eco-terrorist activities, you may get away for awhile, but eventually...we'll track you down and you will be held accountable," said Bartlett, The 32-year-old from...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

Three high-end houses in a Seattle suburb went up in smoke Monday and two others were damaged in the latest domestic terrorism by the Earth Liberation Front, a group of animal-rights and environmental wackos responsible for hundreds of arsons and other acts of sabotage in the Northwest over the past two decades. ELF and other anarchists opposed the development of environmentally friendly homes in Woodinville, Wash., because they were near the headwaters of Bear Creek, home to the endangered chinook salmon. No doubt the creek and adjoining wetlands and aquifer benefited greatly from the ash, soot and runoff from Monday's...

TACOMA — A 32-year-old violin teacher from California was found guilty this morning of two counts of arson for the 2001 fire at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. A federal jury found that Briana Waters, a former Olympia resident, was among a group of ecosaboteurs who torched the center in the predawn hours of May 21, 2001, causing about $1.5 million in damage. The center was later rebuilt at a cost of about $7 million. Waters faces up to five years in prison for each count of arson. But the jury, which had been deliberating since Friday...

Eco-sabotage - Tre Arrow says he's not guilty; homes burn near Seattle; a jury deliberates in TacomaTre Arrow appeared for the first time in a U.S. courtroom Monday to answer government charges that he firebombed logging and concrete-mixing trucks in the spring of 2001, acts of eco-sabotage that rocked the region. The 34-year-old former fugitive, appearing beefier than in his days as one of Oregon's most flamboyant environmental activists, pleaded not guilty in Portland's U.S. District Court to an indictment accusing him of arson, conspiracy and use of destructive devices as an Earth Liberation Front saboteur. Arrow's 14-minute court appearance...

The question is, Can we ask Obama his thoughts and ideas about ELF and ALF and their relevance today? Or are his statements of 2003 not valid in this election either? We are not to ask him about his religion(s), but it's okay for Romney and Hucklebee to be grilled. We cannot call him by his real name Barrack Hussein Obama. We cannot or should not look into his “cousins” who may or may not be of radical Muslim persuasion. And on and on it goes. Does Barrack Hussein Obama think its a terrorist act to set fire or do...

WOODINVILLE, Wash. - Three seven-figure dream homes went up in flames early Monday in a Seattle suburb, apparently set by eco-terrorists who left a sign mocking the builders' claims that the 4,000-plus-square-foot houses were environmentally friendly. The sign — a sheet marked with spray paint — bore the initials ELF, for Earth Liberation Front, a loose collection of radical environmentalists that has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks since the 1990s. The sheriff's office estimated that Monday's pre-dawn fires did $7 million in damage to the "Street of Dreams," a row of unoccupied, furnished luxury model homes where tens of...

Opening paragraph from the New York Times article on the eco-terrorists who burned three new homes north of Seattle today [emphasis added]: For people who are anti-sprawl activists — or have baser motives — a new-built house sitting empty in a previously rural area evidently makes a ripe target for an attack by fire. Consider also the article's headline "House Fires With a Message in the Northwest." Yes, think of it as a bonus. Not just a housefire . . . a housefire with a message!

KING Staff and Wire Reports WOODINVILLE, Wash. - Four large homes are burning at a "Street of Dreams" model home development north of Woodinville. Snohomish County District Seven Chief Rick Eastman tells KING 5 that a sign saying ELF was left at the scene. ELF or Earth Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for other arsons, including one at the University of Washington in 2001 for which a woman is now on trial in Tacoma. KINGA massive fire burned at least four large homes at a "Street of Dreams" model home development north of Woodinville early Monday. No injuries have been...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Fugitive environmental activist Tre Arrow is back in Portland to stand trial today in federal court on conspiracy and arson charges. The 34-year-old militant sought asylum in Canada in 2004, claiming he was a victim of political persecution. He fought extradition. But a recent 14-count federal grand jury indictment has charged Arrow with conspiracy, arson, attempted arson, and use of destructive devices. He is accused of taking part in the destruction of several concrete-mixing trucks at Ross Island Sand and Gravel Company in Portland in April 2001. He's also blamed with destroying logging trucks in June 2001....

WOODINVILLE -- Explosive devices were found inside multimillion-dollar show homes that burned in a suburb north of Seattle Monday, fire officials said. Authorities also found a spray-painted sign purportedly left by a radical environmental group at the scene. The spray-painted sign, a white sheet that had the initials of the Earth Liberation Front in scraggly red letters, mocked claims that the homes were environmentally friendly, according to video images of the sign aired by KING-TV. "Built Green? Nope black!" the sign said.

As reported by KING5, terrorists claiming to be from the Earth Liberation Front have burned down empty homes in Woodinville. I have nothing much to say about this, because the criticism is obvious. I would like to point out that, apart from the obvious fact that this creates pollution and causes even more trees to be cut down, that using trees for houses is actually a good thing for the environment, provided they are older trees: they are mostly full of CO2 and we can cut them down and replace them with new trees that can suck up more CO2....

WOODINVILLE, Wash. — Explosive devices were found inside luxury houses set ablaze Monday morning outside of Seattle, and police suspected that a well-known eco-terrorism group ignited the fires. The multi-million-dollar development known as "Street of Dreams" in Woodinville, Wash., burst into flames in the early morning hours, and Snohomish County crews fought to contain the blaze. The Earth Liberation Front, known for violent acts in the name of environmentalism, left a sign at the scene and was suspected to have set fire to the swanky, newly built neighborhood. The Federal Bureau of Investigation released a statement saying that the FBI,...

Woman recalls confrontations with witnessesTACOMA -- A 32-year-old violin teacher and mother accused of conspiring with members of an Earth Liberation Front eco-terrorist cell took the stand in her own defense Wednesday and flatly denied any involvement in the 2001 firebombing of a University of Washington research center. Briana Waters and her attorneys sought to portray the main witnesses against her -- convicted eco-terrorists -- as liars, motivated by a desire to cut decades off their sentences and by sexually triggered anger. Waters, of Oakland, Calif., wore a white blouse with long blond hair tumbling down to her shoulders. "Did...

Briana Waters is on trial in Tacoma for her alleged role in the 2001 arson at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. It was one of a number of incidents of vandalism in the Northwest attributed to Earth Liberation Front's campaign to rid the world of things that aren't "wild." So what is wild?On the afternoon of May 21, 2001, investigator Cheryl Glenn of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) walked through the charred remains of several buildings at the Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie, Ore. Periodically she would stop, adjust her gloves, get down...

Monday, February 11, 2008 SEATTLE -- Briana Waters says she isn't sure where she was early on May 21, 2001, but there's one place she wasn't: crouching in the bushes near a research center at the University of Washington, serving as a lookout for her fellow Earth Liberation Front activists as they set firebombs that illuminated the night sky and caused millions of dollars in damage. Prosecutors say that's exactly where she was, and they are intent on proving it during a trial that begins today at U.S. District Court in Tacoma. Of more than a dozen environmental and animal-rights...

Antoin "Tony" Rezko was arrested early Monday at his Wilmette home by federal agents on an alleged bond violation, the Tribune has learned. Investigators had in recent weeks become concerned about the movement of some of his finances, a source said. Rezko, who is scheduled to stand trial on corruption charges in less than a month at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, was taken into custody due to an alleged bond violation, a source confirmed.

In May 2001, members of a Northwest group used arson to advance its agenda. They set fire to the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington because they believed one of the researchers was genetically engineering poplar trees. He wasn't. The arsonists destroyed plants and the research of several people other than the man whose work they targeted. None of their goals was served by the violence. "Misguided" is the word, I believe. I'd even call them ecoterrorists. The crime is back in the news because a woman accused of acting as a lookout for the Earth Liberation...

Animal-rights saboteurs have claimed responsibility for vandalizing the Portland home of a research scientist who uses monkeys to study the causes of premature birth in humans. In a communique obtained by The Oregonian today, the Animal Liberation Front acknowledged striking two autos owned by Dr. Miles Novy with spray-paint graffiti and paint stripper. "Novy's reproductive research on primates has resulted in this senseless torture of one of natures most magnificant creatures," ALF saboteurs wrote in a message sent to the Animal Liberation Press Office. "This blatant disregard for the earth, animals and it's resources shall not go unseen by the...

More endangered Mexican gray wolves have been targeted for removal from the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ... The wolf reintroduction program requires the permanent removal of any wolf linked to three livestock killings a year ... Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown says the Aspen Pack has killed a horse and five cows since the beginning of the year.

ElfYourself™ : Brought to you by OfficeMax® This holiday get what you always wanted. The miraculous ability to turn yourself in an elf. And now you can cut the arctic rug with the whole elfin' family. Upload as many as four faces, record a message, and send your holiday helpers off to a friend.

PETA, ELF, ALF are people who need to be taken out of society so we can enjoy life as we see fit. Legislators are next.

SACRAMENTO - A federal jury on Thursday found a 29-year-old environmental activist guilty of conspiring to burn down or blow up a northern California dam, a genetics lab, cell phone towers and other targets. Eric McDavid of Foresthill, Calif. faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for what FBI agents said was as an eco-terrorist plot in the name of the Earth Liberation Front, a shadowy, loose-knit group of environmentalists that has claimed credit for arsons throughout the West. McDavid and two others were arrested in January 2006 after purchasing bottles of bleach, a car battery,...

A few hours after a $50 million condo project burned down, apparently in an eco-terror attack, Earth Liberation Front spokesman Rod Coronado stood in front of a San Diego audience and explained how to build a homemade Molotov cocktail. Now, Coronado is going to trial in federal court on a single count of distributing information on explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction with the intent that his listeners commit illegal acts of violence, a charge that could land him in prison for up to 20 years under post-Sept. 11 legislation. Prosecutors say Coronado, a longtime environmental activist renowned...

Snatched Hunting Dog May Have Been Slated For Death At PETA's Norfolk Headquarters. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) employee Andrea Florence Benoit will be arraigned today in Southampton County (VA) Circuit Court on a felony charge of stealing a local Animal Control officer's hunting dog. The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom, which tracks PETA's program of killing adoptable dogs and cats at PETAkillsAnimals.com, is calling on the animal rights group to stop playing God with other people's pets. Benoit was indicted by a Grand Jury on July 16. Benoit was arrested in October 2006, shortly after allegedly...

THE HOME OF DR. ARTHUR ROSENBAUM isn’t hard to find. He lives a few blocks south of Sunset Boulevard, near the UCLA campus, in a white two-story house with a front yard jammed with aspen trees. There is a short driveway on the side of the home, and during the evening, a bright, white light illuminates the carport. If someone wants to sabotage the doctor’s car under the cover of night, a flashlight isn’t needed. On Sunday, June 24, just that kind of person struck. Rosenbaum, a highly regarded pediatric ophthalmologist who had been regularly harassed by animal-rights activists for...