- Daniel G. McGowan
-
Daniel Gerard McGowan 
Born New York City Charge(s) Arson and Conspiracy to commit arson Conviction(s) Pled guilty Penalty 7 years in prison, $1.9 million USD restitution Status Incarcerated in Communication Management Unit (CMU) at USP Marion Occupation Environmental and social justice activist Spouse Jennifer Synan Daniel Gerard McGowan (born 1974) is an American environmental and social justice activist who was arrested and charged in federal court on multiple counts of arson and conspiracy, relating to the arson of Superior Lumber company in Glendale, Oregon on January 2, 2001 and Jefferson Poplar Farms in Clatskanie, Oregon on May 21, 2001 claimed by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). McGowan was facing a minimum of life in prison if convicted when he accepted a non-cooperation plea agreement, pleading guilty on November 9, 2006. His arrest is part of what the US government has dubbed Operation Backfire.
Contents
Biography
McGowan was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens, New York City, and was graduated from Christ the King Regional High School.[1] He has worked on many activist issues including military counter-recruitment, demonstrations against the Republican National Convention, the Really Really Free Market,[2] and the support of prisoners such as Jeff Luers[3] and others. McGowan was a graduate student earning a Master's degree in acupuncture, and was an employee of WomensLaw.org,[4] a nonprofit group that helps women in domestic abuse situations navigate the legal system.
Arrest and Operation Backfire
Main article: Operation Backfire (FBI)On December 7, 2005, one of the largest arrests of environmental activists in American history began. Using the code name Operation Backfire, the FBI arrested six people. Chelsea Gerlach, William Rodgers, Kendall Tankersley, Kevin Tubbs, Daniel McGowan and Stanislas Meyerhoff were arrested for allegedly taking part in a wide variety of crimes, including arson and domestic terrorism.[5] Stanislas Meyerhoff agreed to be a federal cooperating witness almost immediately upon arrest and interrogation. On December 22, William "Avalon" Rodgers was found dead in his cell in Flagstaff, Arizona, from an apparent suicide.
At first, those arrested were indicted separately with certain individuals facing numerous trials for each separate alleged incident. On January 20, federal prosecutors, the head of the FBI, and US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales held a press conference announcing a sweeping 65-count indictment, including two conspiracy charges, against 11 individuals relating to 17 different incidents in Oregon, Washington and California. In addition to the six people arrested on December 7, the Oregon indictment also named Jonathan Paul, Suzanne Savoie, Joseph Dibee, Rebecca Rubin and Josephine Overaker.
The Oregon indictment charged certain defendants with arson, attempted arson, and using and carrying a destructive device. The destructive device charge, 18 USC 924(c), carries a 30-year mandatory sentence and a life sentence for a second conviction of the charge.
On June 28, the government arraigned Nathan Block, Joyanna Zacher, Daniel and Jonathan Paul on a new 65-count superseding indictment. All four pleaded not guilty.
Criticism of prosecution
The Christian Science Monitor reports that the "Operation Backfire" indictments have elicited concern, from activists, that authorities have "cracked the super-secrecy of ALF and ELF".[6] Alternative media organizations have condemned the arrests, some calling them a "witch-hunt", "aimed at disrupting and discrediting political movements".[7] Activists, alluding to the Red Scare, claim the operations are "fishing expedition[s]" carried out "in the midst of 9/11 McCarthyism.[8] The FBI disputes these claims. Director Robert Mueller claims the agency takes action "only when volatile talk crosses the line into violence and criminal activity".[9]
Plea agreement
On November 9, 2006, McGowan and co-defendants Jonathan Paul, Joyanna Zacher and Nathan Block pleaded guilty and signed a plea agreement with the government. This agreement does not require cooperation (informing on others) on the part of the defendants.[10]
Zacher[11] and Block[12] each pleaded to one count of conspiracy, attempted arson, and two separate incidents of arson. McGowan pled to conspiracy and to two separate incidents of arson. The government recommended that they be sentenced to 96 months in federal prison. Paul pleaded to one count of arson and one count of conspiracy.[13] The government recommended Paul be sentenced to 60 months in prison. All four defendants are free to argue for a lesser sentence.[10]
Federal prosecutors asked the court to apply a "terrorism enhancement[14]" at sentencing. The defendants could have faced up to 20 years in prison in addition to the terms of the plea agreement. The government was seeking the "terrorism enhancement" because, despite the fact that the crimes to which they have admitted responsibility only involve the destruction of private property, it was wholly possible their actions could have led to the deaths of innocent people. No government property was damaged in any of the incidents.[10][15]
Sentencing and prison
On June 4, 2007, McGowan was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.9 million in restitution. U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken presided over the sentencing, which took place at Oregon Federal Court in Eugene, Oregon.[16] Judge Aiken applied a "terrorism enhancement" to the sentence.[17] McGowan was incarcerated in the highly restrictive Communication Management Unit at the United States Penitentiary, Marion from August 2008 to October 2010.[18]
On October 19th, 2010, McGowan's request for a transfer from the CMU to general population was granted.[19] However, for reasons never explained to McGowan, his family, supporters, or lawyers, four months later he was transferred to another Communications Management Unit, this time in Terre Haute, Indiana.[20]
Close to a year prior to the latest transfer, in March, 2010, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of multiple prisoners, including McGowan and his wife.[21] In the time following the filing of this case, several news pieces that expose the CMUs have been published.[22][23][24][25]
Documentary
In 2011, Sam Cullman and Marshall Curry's documentary "If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" will be released in theaters and on DVD by Oscilloscope Laboratories. The documentary follows Daniel's history with the Earth Liberation Front while examining the group at large. The film was shown on the PBS documentary series and on-line September-October, 2011.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b Curry, Marshall (filmmaker), "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front", PBS POV documentary, produced and first aired 2011. Synopsis only at link. Biographical info from film. Viewed 2011-10-23 MPBN.
- ^ Grigoriadis, Vanessa (Jun 18, 2007). "Is This Elf a Terrorist? The first New Yorker convicted of ecoterrorism.". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/33544/.
- ^ Free Jeff Luers, Homepage.
- ^ WomensLaw.org, Homepage.
- ^ "Eleven Defendants Indicted on Domestic Terrorism Charges" (Press release). U.S. Dept. of Justice. Jan 20, 2006. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2006/January/06_crm_030.html. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
- ^ Knickerbocker, Brad (January 30, 2006). "Backstory: Eco-vigilantes: All in 'The Family?'". The Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0130/p20s01-sten.html. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
- ^ Independent Media Center | www.indymedia.org | ((( i )))
- ^ Environmental + Anarchist witch-hunt under way, a very coherent summary : Indybay
- ^ Federal Bureau of Investigation - Major Executive Speeches - January 20, 2006
- ^ a b c "RE United States v. Daniel Gerard McGowan". U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney District of Oregon:. http://www.supportdaniel.org/files/McGowanPlea.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ http://www.cldc.org/pdf/plea_docs_zacher.pdf Zacher plea agreement, Nov. 8, 2006
- ^ http://www.cldc.org/pdf/plea_doc_block.pdf Block plea agreement, Nov. 9, 2006
- ^ http://www.cldc.org/pdf/plea_doc_paul.pdf Paul Plea, Nov. 8, 2006
- ^ http://www.cldc.org/pdf/ALR_Dom_Terrorism.rtf Construction and Apllication of Federal Domestic Terrorism Sentencing Enhancement
- ^ http://www.cldc.org/TEhearing.html Notes from Terrorism Enhancement Hearing, May 15, 2007
- ^ "Man sentenced to seven years for ecoterrorism fires". KOMO (Radio & TV station, Seattle). AP. Jun 4, 2007. http://www.komonews.com/news/local/7835502.html. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
- ^ Harris, Shane (July 13, 2007). "The Terrorism Enhancement: An obscure law stretches the definition of terrorism, and metes out severe punishments". National Journal. http://shaneharris.com/magazinestories/terrorism-enhancement-obscure-law-stretches-the-definition-of-terrorism-and-metes-out-severe-punishments/. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
- ^ McGowan, Daniel (June 8, 2009). "Tales from Inside the U.S. Gitmo". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-mcgowan/tales-from-inside-the-us_b_212632.html. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
- ^ http://www.arprisoners.org/daniel-mcgowan/
- ^ http://earthfirstnews.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/daniel-mcgowan-moved-back-to-cmu/
- ^ http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/aref-et-al-v-holder-et-al
- ^ http://www.thenation.com/article/159161/gitmo-heartland
- ^ http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2011/mar/17/backstory-communications-management-units-federal-prisons/
- ^ http://www.npr.org/2011/03/03/134168714/guantanamo-north-inside-u-s-secretive-prisons
- ^ http://www.npr.org/2011/03/04/134176614/leaving-guantanamo-north
External links
- Radio interview of McGowan following sentencing - on Democracy Now!, June 11, 2007 (audio and print transcript)
- Department of Justice press release of the arrest
- McGowan's plea agreement
- Civil Liberties Defense Center
- Green is the new Red
- EcoPrisoners.org
- FBI's Operation Backfire
- Eugene Weekly: Who are the real terrorists?
- Operational Backfire - Criminalizing Dissent by Michael Donnelly
- Crying Terrorist by Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times
- Government Charges Local Man As Eco-Terrorist in Brooklyn Rail
- Support site for Daniel McGowan
Categories:- Animal Liberation Front
- Earth Liberation Front
- Eco-terrorism
- American environmentalists
- American vegans
- American activists
- American arsonists
- American prisoners and detainees
- Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
- Living people
- 1974 births
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