New American ELF prisoner

Urgent ELP! Bulletin (26th of July 2008)

Dear friends

Yesterday ELP reported the arrest and remanding of an American, Bryan Rivera, a.k.a Bryan Lefey, who is accused of involvement in an ELF action eight years ago. Following our enquiries we believe that Bryan has been remanded under the name Bryan Lefey.

Please send letters of support to:

Bryan Lefey #38664-086

FDC SeaTac

Federal Detention Center

P.O. Box 13900

Seattle, WA 98198

USA

So far the only information we have about Bryan is one mainstream media artilce (reproduced below). If anyone knows Bryan or any of the others mentioned in this article (for example Katherine Christianson), or anything about this case please let ELP know.

FBI arrests Earth Liberation Front suspect in Olympia
http://www.theolympian.com/672/story/519575.html

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published July 25, 2008

An alleged Earth Liberation Front member was arrested by FBI agents at an
Olympia residence Wednesday morning, and is charged with causing $500,000
worth of damage to research trees at a U.S. Forest Service facility in
Rhinelander, Wisc. in July 2000, court papers state.

Bryan Rivera, a.k.a Bryan Lefey, a.k.a. "Rat Dog," is charged in an
unsealed federal indictment filed in the Western District of Wisconsin
with one count each of depredation of government property in excess of
$500 and depredation of government property in excess of $1,000.

An official at the Federal Public Defender in Tacoma confirmed today that
Rivera was being held at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac.

FBI agents served Rivera, 31, with an arrest warrant at his home in the
500 block of East Bay Drive Wednesday morning, Robbie Burroughs, an FBI
spokesman, confirmed Thursday. The spokesman would not release details on
the charges until today.

According to the indictment: in July 2000, Rivera and two other suspects
conspired to damage trees at the Rhinelander facility using " 'etching
cream, saws, scraping tools and other items."

"The conspirators believed that the U.S. Forest Service Facility in
Rhinelander was an appropriate target for direct action because the
facility was performing a genetic research project on trees," reads the
indictment. "The conspirators decided to do the attack in combination with
their planned protests at the International Society of Animal Geneticists
(ISAG protests) occurring in late July of 2000 in Minneapolis, Minn."

In addition to damaging 500 trees at the facility, the group also used
spray paint and etching cream to damage U.S. Forest Service vehicles with
references to ELF, the indictment states.

After the vandalism, alleged co-conspirator Katherine Christianson, along
with a man not named as a defendant in the indictment, sent a communique
on behalf of ELF. "The communique ended with the words: ‘We are everywhere
and we are nowhere and we are watching. For wildness and an end to
industrial society.’ It was signed ‘ELF Earth Liberation Front," reads the
indictment.

From bottom of July 26th Olympian article, page 1:

Character reference letter from Duane Moore D.D.S. to the courts on behalf
of Bryan Lefey (pdf)
http://media.theolympian.com/smedia/2008/07/25/09/MooreLetter.source.prod_affiliate.38.pdf

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Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network

BM Box 2407

London

WC1N 3XX

England

www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk