Waters gets 6 years for UW firebombing

By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I REPORTER

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 Thursday.

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 attack -- by the radical Earth Liberation Front against a lab that they wrongly believed was conducting genetic engineering experiments -- was part of a six-year rampage that began in 1996 and immolated a Colorado ski resort, science labs, government animal facilities and sport utility vehicles. No one was hurt in the UW fire, but the building and valuable research inside was destroyed. It cost $6.2 million to rebuild.

A key to Thursday's sentencing hearing in Tacoma was whether actions of Waters, who acted as a lookout and provided logistics support to her ELF compatriots, rose to the level of terrorism. U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess found that they did.

Federal prosecutors Andrew Friedman and Mark Bartlett asserted during a 3 1/2-week trial that Waters participated in planning, provided a car to the bombers and allowed Solondz to build firebombs in the garage of the Olympia home she rented.

All these factors, along with the intent of the ELF conspirators to intimidate the government to change its policies and actions, justify adding a "terrorism enhancement" in figuring her sentence, the prosecutors said. Although they could have asked for a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, they asked for 10 years.

"Terrorism is the antithesis of America," Bartlett told the court. "It is the polar opposite of how democracy works in a free and open society. Terrorists attempt to impose their elitist views .... As a result, terrorists are treated more harshly by the law, and they should be."

But Waters' attorney, Neil Fox, questioned the government's use of the term "terrorist." And he asked the court to sentence his client to no more than 18 months behind bars.

"The court should be cognizant of the misuse of the term 'terrorism.' The term clearly has been manipulated by those seeking to advance their own political agendas," Fox said in a filing with the court. "It is the scare word of the day, and the consequences of the expansion of the use of the term to brand defendants can lead to grave injustice."

Fox argued that Waters should not be subjected to the terrorism enhancement, which could add decades to her sentence, because the jury had not found her guilty of conspiring with the other four defendants in the case. Waters "was not part of the broader ELF/ALF conspiracy," Fox said in court filings.

And he claimed his client, who continues to maintain her innocence, had no motivation or intent to intimidate anyone in the alleged arson attack. "There is no evidence that she chose the target or that she even knew about or cared about" the botanical research taking place there.

The government scoffed at that contention, while acknowledging that her actions didn't rise to the level of flying a plane into the side of New York City's World Trade Center.

"Although Waters' crime is substantively different from, say, the attacks of September 11, 2001 -- a fact that is recognized in the United States' recommendation of a sentence far below" what could have been asked for, it's clear that it still meets the definition of terrorism, prosecutors said in court filings.

Most of 10 ELF/ALF defendants sentenced recently in Oregon received the terrorism enhancement in sentencing, the government argued.

And prosecutors cited an anonymous ELF communiqué of responsibility issued by the defendants after the firebombing as proof of a terroristic intent to intimidate or retaliate against the government.

"As long as universities continue to pursue this reckless 'science' they run the risk of suffering severe losses. Our message remains clear: We are determined to stop genetic engineering." It was signed "ELF"

"The arson was a terrible crime," prosecutors said. "Waters and her co-conspirators burned a large university building devoted to botanical research and teaching. In doing so, they created a huge fire that easily could have injured or killed either students (who often worked and slept in the building overnight) or responding firefighters."

To drive home the point, prosecutors submitted a statement from a professor identified only as DR.

"Graduate students lost their work and had to postpone job offers and additional educational opportunities. This violent act devastated us and we, as individuals, will never fully recover. They took years away from us and changed how we look at our fellow human beings."

DR began having panic attacks after the firebombing and ultimately moved because her address had been listed in the phone book.

P-I reporter Paul Shukovsky can be reached at 206-448-8072 or paulshukovsky@seattlepi.com.