On the 26 July 2008, Earth Liberation Prisoners (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 their enquiries ELP believe that Bryan has been remanded under the name Bryan Lefey. ELP has learnt that 2 other defendants in the same case, Katherine Christianson and Aaron Ellringer, who have both been accused of ELF actions, appeared in court on Tuesday the 29th of July, where they both pleaded not guilty and were released on bail, but their co-defendent Bryan Rivera aka Bryan Lefey remains imprisoned.
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 article (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.
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.
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Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
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From: fightthegreenscare(at)riseup.net
... Here is the Rhinelander Indictment of Katherine Christianson, Bryan Rivera, and Aaron Ellringer. It names Daniel McGowan as a currently unindicted coconspirator - the indictment comes out of the Grand Jury he recently refused to cooperate with- as well as known snitch Ian Wallace. Additionally, it refers to other participant individuals "known and unknown to the Grand Jury." ...
Please pass this information on as far and wide as possible.
-EWOK!, www.midwestgreenscare.org