[Ppnews] Briana Waters gets 6 years for UW firebombing

[Political Prisoner News]

All These are from Corporate Media Reports

Waters gets 6 years for UW firebombing

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/367671_waters20.html

By <mailto:paulshukovsky at seattlepi.com>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 Wednesday.

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 $7 million to rebuild.

A key to Wednesday'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.

Federal prosecutors 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.

But Waters' attorney, Neil Fox, sought to 
scrutinize the government's definition of 
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 
<mailto:paulshukovsky at seattlepi.com>paulshukovsky at seattlepi.com.

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6-year sentence for ecoterror arson at U. of Washington

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008006678_apwaecoterrortrial1stldwritethru.html
The woman convicted in an ecoterror attack at the 
University of Washington has been sentenced to six years in prison.
TACOMA, Wash. ­

The woman convicted in an ecoterror attack at the 
University of Washington has been sentenced to six years in prison.

KIRO-TV reports that Briana Waters asked for 
mercy because she has a 3-year-old daughter.

Prosecutors had recommended a 10-year sentence. 
Her lawyer asked for no more than a year-and-a-half.

Waters was taken into custody after Thursday's 
sentencing in federal court in Tacoma. She had 
been convicted March 6 of arson, and her lawyer is working on an appeal.

The 32-year-old from Berkeley, Calif., was an 
Evergreen State College student who acted as a 
lookout in 2001 when others set fire to the 
Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle. The 
Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility 
because it believed, mistakenly, a researcher was 
genetically modifying poplar trees.





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