Auburn Journal on Eric McDavid: Eco-terrorist suspect's trial begins

Eco-terrorist suspect's trial begins
Attorney says Foresthill man was set up by FBI informant

By: Penne Usher, Auburn Journal Staff Writer
Monday, September 10, 2007

A Sacramento attorney said his client, an accused eco-terrorist, is a
victim of entrapment by the FBI.

But prosecutors say they caught an eco-terrorist in the act of planning to
bomb U.S. government buildings.

Those claims and more highlight the trial for accused eco-terrorist Eric
McDavid, of Foresthill, which began Monday in a Sacramento courtroom.

McDavid, 29, was arrested Jan. 13, 2006 along with Zachary Jenson, 21, of
Monroe Wash. and Lauren Weiner, 21, of Philadelphia. All were charged with
conspiracy to destroy government buildings.

Weiner entered into a plea agreement May 30, 2006 and Jensen pleaded
guilty July 18, 2006, Rosemary Shaul, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's
Office said Monday.

The two are scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 11 in federal court.

FBI officials have said the arrest was based on evidence that the trio was
plotting on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front to destroy unspecified
cell phone towers, power-generation facilities and U.S. Forest Service
facilities.

The three suspected eco-terrorists were seen by surveillance teams
scouting out the Nimbus Dam and fish hatchery in Folsom and had visited
the U.S. Forest Service structures near Placerville.

ELF is a recognized eco-terrorist group comprised of "cells," or small
numbers of environmental extremists who use arson and explosive devices to
target government, commercial and residential facilities.

A female informant working for the FBI infiltrated the eco-terrorist
group's local cell, according to court documents. The foursome was video-
and audiotaped at an Auburn-area cabin pre-wired with surveillance
equipment by the FBI.

McDavid, Jenson and Weiner reportedly discussed possible targets,
reconnaissance missions and what supplies would be needed to make bombs.

McDavid's Sacramento attorney, Mark Reichel, said his client and the other
two suspects are not only victims of entrapment by the FBI, but also an
informant. "She bullied and cajoled McDavid and his co-defendants into
this plan that she hatched and kept alive," Reichel said in a released
statement. "McDavid now faces 20 years in prison for a crime that was
never committed."

He said that the FBI paid the 17-year-old confidential informant about
$75,000 for infiltrating activist groups and "spying" on gathering across
the country.

McDavid remains incarcerated in the Sacramento County Jail pending trial.

Reichel claims the FBI's case was "fabricated."

"The government should never be involved in the manufacturing of crime,"
he said.

The 2006 arrest came just a year after four eco-terror suspects were
arrested in connection with multiple fire-bomb attempts.

Four firebombs were found at the Twelve Bridges development in Lincoln on
Dec. 27, 2004, and five incendiary devices were found at an Auburn office
building under construction Jan. 12. 2005. An apartment complex in Sutter
Creek was burned Feb. 7. All were connected to the Earth Liberation Front.

Ryan Lewis, 23, of Newcastle, pleaded guilty Oct. 14, 2005 in federal
court to two counts of attempted arson and one count of arson in
connection with the planting of incendiary devices in Placer and Amador
counties.

Eva Holland, 26, and her sister Lili Holland, 21, also of Newcastle,
pleaded guilty to a count of attempted arson.

Additionally, an "incendiary device" was found on the steps of the Placer
County Historic Courthouse in Old Town Auburn Feb. 13, 2005 and another
similar device was located behind the Auburn office of the Department of
Motor Vehicles. No one has been arrested in connection with those two
plantings.

The Journal's Penne Usher can be reached at penneu@goldcountrymedia.com or
post a comment online at auburnjournal.com.