Early yesterday morning i put up a humorous post about the Green Scare. The problem is that its not a laughing matter. Many environmental activists are being locked away. Its sad when friends now consider a two-year term for a non-violent, politically-motivated crime to be “getting off easy”, but compared to the life plus 335 years that Daniel McGowan is now facing, two years doesn’t seem so bad.

On my recent trip to NYC, i had the great pleasure of meeting Daniel and hanging out with him for awhile in his sister’s Manhattan apartment (where Daniel is on house arrest awaiting trial). You may have noticed the animated graphic in my sidebar that i made for Daniel. I won’t get too much into Daniel’s case, for that i suggest you check out supportdaniel.org. Just know that Daniel is being painted by the federal government as a terrorist, an eco-terrorist to be exact. Daniel has maintained his plea of not-guilty and will continue to do so in the upcoming trial.

BTW, if you’d like to show your support for Daniel by putting the animated image on your site, just insert the following code wherever you’d like the image to appear:

<a href=“http://www.supportdaniel.org” title=“Support Daniel”>
<img src=“http://vegankid.solidaritydesign.net/images/daniel.gif”
border=“0″ alt=“support daniel” /></a>

I’ve had the privilege of meeting several political prisoners. Some of whom served two months for civil disobediane, one who served twenty years for his involvement in the Black Liberation Army. I’ve corresponded with a couple of prisoners, but never have i sat with someone as they mentally prepare themselves for the possibility that they may have to serve the rest of their life in a prison cell. Its heartbreaking, mind-boggling. Thinking about it gives me that feeling in my chest like there’s a large piece of bread stuck in my esophagus. Daniel is a sweet, compassionate, intelligent, persyn with a warming smile. His selflessness is inspiring.He rarely talked about his case in terms of persynal sacrifices. Instead, he talked about the need to support all 14 co-defendents and the implications of the case for all political activists in this country. You see, the charges that are being brought up against the defendents are charges that were about to pass their statute of limitations. The US government doesn’t like to lose in their self-titled War on Terror, so they decided to make some examples out of people. Round up as many dedicated radical environmental activists as you can and put them all on trial.

This is not an isolated case, however. Its no coincidence that the SHAC 6 are now awaiting sentencing for terrorism charges related to hosting their now-defunt website. Or that Rod Coronado is now facing another prison sentance for a speech he gave years ago. Or that Free Luers is serving a much longer sentance than your average rapist or murderer because he burned a couple of SUVs. Or that Rob los Ricos is serving seven years for throwing a rock at a cop in self-defense. The list could go on: Josh McDermitt, Christopher McIntosh, Peter Young, Tre Arrow, and others are all serving time or awaiting sentencing as political prisoners. The arrests are part of a coordinated attack on political activists akin to COINTELPRO operations from 1956-1971 and the post-WWII Red Scare.

That’s why i’m dedicating this week to writing letters to environmental and animal liberation prisoners. As the saying goes, “they are in there for us, so we are out here for them.” However, i’m not going to write to Daniel right now. Why? Because as he said “there are people still sitting in prison cells. People who need more support than i do right now.” That’s not to say that Daniel doesn’t need all of our support, but he’s right in that we can’t just focus all of our time and energy on one persyn or one cause. I’ve started today by writing to Chelsea Gerlach, Eric McDavid, Zachary Jensen, and Peter Young. Here is their info:

Chelsea Gerlach #1308678
Lane County Jail
101 W 5th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401
USA
supportchelsea.org

Jenson, Zachary X-4198632 8E213A
Sacramento County Main Jail
651 “I” Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

McDavid, Eric X-2972521 7E114A
Sacramento County Main Jail
651 “I” Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
supporteric.org