Interview with Convicted "Eco-Terrorist" Jeff "Free" Luers

Prison Interview with Convicted Oregon “Eco-Terrorist” Jeff Luers

When Jeff “free” Luers and Craig “Critter” Marshall drove away from
Romania Chevrolet in the early morning hours of June 16, 2001 after
igniting the wicks of two one gallon milk jugs filled with Coleman
fuel, they could not have known that this action would come to
significantly alter their lives.

The Eugene, Oregon anarchist
eco-activists had placed the firebombs under a row of SUVs in an
attempt to bring attention to the disproportionate air pollution caused
by gas guzzling vehicles. Neither were aware that Luers had been tailed
throughout the day by three plainclothes police since his release from
jail earlier that day on a disorderly conduct charge stemming from
activities during the Eugene “Seven Weeks Revolt” anarchist conference.
The cops lost track of the two a block from the Chevrolet dealership.
Ten minutes later, Springfield officers stopped them for a traffic
violation. Both were taken into custody by the undercover agents who
had been following them. It was later learned that one of the agents
was from an anti-domestic terrorist unit. Luers and Marshall were
arrested on Criminal Mischief One, a charge that carries about one
year.

Damage caused by the fire was quickly put out with a
simple fire extinguisher and totaled $40,000 worth of damage. In
addition, all three vehicles were repaired and subsequently sold. No
human life was taken or endangered, yet one week later Luers was
arraigned on nine different felony counts including arson, attempted
arson, and manufacturing and possession of destructive devices or
explosives. Similar devices were found at petroleum distributor Tyree
Oil in Eugene, and three weeks before his trial began, he was also
charged with attempted arson of that facility and faced several more
charges. By the time of his trial, he had accumulated 13 charges and
was looking at serving 100 years if convicted. While no physical
evidence was found to link Luers to Tyree, he was offered a deal for 15
years if he would plead guilty to both Romania and Tyree. He held fast
and refused. In the end, he was convicted of 11 felony charges and
sentenced to 22 years and 8 months with no possibility of parole.
Co-defendant Marshall took a “conspiracy to commit arson" and
"possession of destructive devices" plea and was released after serving
four and a half years. It must be made clear that no part of this deal
involved any admission of guilt or implication of guilt on the part of
Jeffrey Luers. A later falling out between the two is unrelated to this
plea.

In a decision handed down on February 28 of 2008,
Luers’ appeal for re-sentencing was heard in Eugene’s Lane County
Circuit Court. The new ruling brings his release date to December 2009.
Luers originally filed his appeal in January of 2002. The original
sentence handed down to Luers in June of 2001 was stunning in a most
draconian sense and was clearly politically motivated.

Since
the time of Luers’ arrest, the United States has seen an unprecedented
dismantling of civil liberties via the excessive reach of the War on
Terror. The largest roundup of eco-activists in US history began with
the launch of the FBI's “Operation Backfire” on December 7, 2005. At a
national press conference in January 2006, then Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller unveiled a 65-count
indictment targeting the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal
Liberation Front (ALF) with the claim that a "vast eco-terrorist
conspiracy" was the U.S. number one domestic terrorist threat.

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) was signed into law by
President George W. Bush on November 27, 2006. It was pushed through
Congress by wealthy biomedical & agri-business industry groups such
as the Animal Enterprise Protection Coalition, the American Legislative
Exchange Council and the Center for Consumer Freedom, with bipartisan
support from legislators Senator Dianne Feinstein and Rep. James
Sensenbrenner.

AETA expands the legal definition of
“terrorism” to include activity previously protected as free speech
under the First Amendment. The Act’s broad language brings ambiguity to
statutory terms used in the offense and definition sections of the law.
Such undefined terms as “interfere with,” “profit loss,” and “economic
damage” might be applied to the results of lawful boycotts and peaceful
protests: “interfering with” could conceivably cover undercover
investigations of animal laboratories, Internet postings, email
campaigns, or demonstrations and boycotts. Because of this ambiguity,
the law arguably does not give a reasonable person fair notice of what
is legal, as is required of a criminal statute. This is not resolved by
the AETA’s stated exemptions for “lawful boycotts” and “peaceful
protests.” Indeed, the elements of those acts may qualify as terrorist
acts under the AETA. This brings a chilling effect not only to the work
of eco and animal rights activists, but to all dissenters across the
board. Luers in fact has never claimed affiliations with either ALF or
ELF.

Jeff Luers has become internationally known and
supported as a political prisoner, not only because of the length of
his original sentence, but also because of his prior activism and the
tree-sitting campaign at Fall Creek, Oregon. To some he is a true
revolutionary. He also wears the label of terrorist. He has served time
in a number of Oregon correctional facilities with the majority of his
time spent at the maximum security Oregon State Penitentiary. He has
been housed for the past nine months at the Columbia River Correctional
Institution in Portland, Oregon. This interview was conducted by this
author through a series of letter exchanges during late 2008 and
January 2009.

MG-What is the status of your release date? Are you still looking at December 2009?

JL-My current release date is December 16 2009. There is some
contention between me and the Department of Corrections about this; the
date should be December 15. That is my good time release date. While it
is unlikely to change, I could be released as late as June 17, 2010.

MG-What are you most looking forward to upon your release? What are you most apprehensive about?

JL-There are so may things that I am excited about. No more walls is a
big one. I think that within my first weeks I’ll find myself camped
deep in the woods reconnecting with nature.

There doesn’t
really seem to be too much that I’m apprehensive about. Certainly,
prison has changed me, but the core of my being is still the same. My
biggest challenge I think, is going to be living indoors and paying
rent.

MG-At the time that you began your activism, there were
a host of eco issues to be addressed. What put you on the path to tree
sitting as opposed to other environmental struggles?

JL-For
me, tree sitting was all about the direct action. It was a campaign and
struggle that was local that I could have a direct impact on.

The end goals of many struggles are completely beyond our reach. Not
that we shouldn’t still struggle to reach those goals, but they
translate into petitions of redress. We must concede that we are
powerless to create change ourselves and end up asking others to do it
for us.

Direct action isn’t like that. The power to create
change or act on a belief system rests completely in our hands. It
takes power away from the powerful and puts it in the hands of the
powerless.

I got involved in old growth defense because I was
physically capable of stopping the logging of that forest. And anyone
familiar with the Fall Creek/Red Cloud Thunder campaign knows that we
did not politely ask for that forest to be protected. Nor did we
protest gently.

MG-What moved you to follow through with the
arson at Romania? Did you feel that there was any other alternative at
all to raise awareness about global warming? And, what was running
through your mind when you set flame to incendiary?

JL-Our
world is being physically and geographically altered by the greenhouse
gasses that we’re putting into the environment. Local and global
climates are changing. These events have been happening for decades,
but it is only now that this makes news.

Industry giants and
corporate hooligans are making millions of dollars destroying the
planet I love. They are putting people’s lives at risk.

You ask me what moved me to follow through with these actions. I ask, what has not moved others?

There were plenty of other alternatives to raise awareness about global
warming. Al Gore did a great job. He’s also a former vice president and
millionaire. It’s harder to ignore him or shut him up though many
tried.

Things have not changed much since the time of kings.
Poor people are still ignored. Only when the peasants revolt does the
king take notice.

Do you really want to know what I was
thinking when critter and I lit the incendiary devices? Okay. I was
thinking, “Don’t set yourself on fire.”

MG-You and critter
both followed through in carrying out the arson action together and you
were immediately arrested together after this action. Because of his
plea, he was released after serving a four and a half year sentence in
contrast to your original sentence of 22 years plus. What do you have
to say to this? (Any comment for sake of clarity to the community
regarding your falling out with him?)

JL-Critter and I talked
extensively before he agreed to take his deal. He was firmly prepared
to go to trial with me had I asked. I wanted critter to take the deal.
At the time, they offered him five years. They were offering me
fifteen. By taking the deal he in no way had to cooperate. Hell, he
wouldn’t have even had to acknowledge guilt.

The falling out
he and I had is personal and between he and I. We have since made up. I
am very much looking forward to seeing my old friend.

MG-How effective was your action at Romania, and is there anything that you regret?

JL-In some ways the Romania action was and is probably one of the most
effective direct actions taken in the United States; I know, very
modest of me, right? Our action changed the dynamics of clandestine
actions for the earth in this country. Afterward, Romania car
dealerships all over the world were targeted.

Suddenly, it was no longer just industry being targeted but the culture that is responsible for global warming.

And yeah, I do have some regrets about Romania. After all of the
[prison] time that I got for that little fire, I wish I’d done
something bigger.

MG-Your original sentence by any fair and
rational definition was brutal and extreme, particularly in contrast to
punishment meted out to rapists and other violent offenders, many of
whom you saw and see released while you sit in a concrete cage. The
effect on you has had to, at times, fill you with rage. What have you
done to channel this rage?

JL-I’ve never been angry about my
sentence. What am I supposed to feel rage toward? I already know that
the system is corrupt and unjust. I already know that property is
valued more than life. I know that an act of dissent will receive
harsher punishment than crime. I was angry at those things when I took
action. So I can’t complain that [this punishment] happened to me. In
some ways, I’m glad that they gave me 22 years and called me a
terrorist. It not only proved that I was right about the things that I
was saying, but it also showed that direct action really truly is a
threat to business as usual.

The punishment has only served to further my dedication as demonstrated by my continuing struggle from inside these walls.

MG-Operation Backfire hit the environmental movement hard, in the NW
particularly. You saw former comrades given lengthy prison sentences
based on the testimony of other former comrades who rolled over for the
feds. The Animal Enterprise Terrorist Act was signed into law in
November of 2006. Clearly, the criminal factory farm corporations and
capitalist industry polluters have it made in the shade as the
government protects their interests at all costs. First, what do you
have to say about these draconian measures and second, do you have any
words of encouragement for activists who have fallen to fear and
retreated to the shadows?

JL-Fear is the enemy of freedom. We
fail to act because we fear the cost of living free. We live in a
police state. The U.S. may be the kinder face of fascism, but it is
still a fascist state. Yes, we have elected a man who may bring change,
but the system that he upholds will still be a capitalist, imperialist
monster. If anyone thinks that he isn’t going to protect the corporate
interests at the extent of the people, they are wrong. We live in one
of the few countries in the world where corporations are granted and
guaranteed the same rights under our constitution. By design, our
government is structured to uphold that rule of law.

I would
rather be in prison or dead than blindly submit to a government I know
is corrupt and wrong. I would rather dare to live free and fight
against injustice than cower in silence and despair. I think many
people feel the same way. We just have to be smarter in how we speak
out and in how we act.

Oppression is designed to break the
free spirit of the people and force them to accept their lot. The whole
nature of and desire for freedom is to break free at all costs.

There is a world beyond this one just waiting to be created. The right
to clean air, water and food is a birthright. Freedom is ours by right
of birth. It cannot be granted by any government. It cannot be bought
at any price. It is ours and we must only choose to wear its mantle.

MG-You’ve kept us update via your Dispatches from prison. In your last
one you wrote that you were tired of fighting. This is a right that you
certainly have earned. You also wrote that you were not giving up, but
are instead looking at different ways of fighting. Can you touch more
on this?

JL-I’ve spent the last twelve years on the front
lines. Sadly, nearly nine of those have been in prison. I want to focus
on my life and family when I get out.

I’ve seen our failures
at struggling against the symptoms. I’d like to focus on creating the
cure. Direct activism and militancy is a mainstay of the struggle for
social and environmental justice. Unfortunately, creating alternatives
to today’s mess has not been. That is where I would really like to work
and bring really hands on changes and alternatives to the table.

MG-One of the more chilling Dispatches from you appeared online on
Portland Indymedia in September of 2006. In it, you wrote about the
more brutal aspects of prison life. In the space of a few weeks a guard
had been severely beaten in the yard, fights in chow hall were
averaging one a week and a man lay dying for five hours in front of
your cell. You wrote, “I can watch a man get stabbed in the neck and
keep eating. I can pretend to not see a man lying helpless in his own
blood (along with everyone else on the yard). And I can watch a man die
and be completely unmoved.”

When you learned that the guy you
watched die was a child molester, you wrote that you were glad that he
was dead. While a few folks who commented seemed to understand what it
was that you were trying to convey, one chastised you for feeling glad.
She wrote that this was a “sad turn of events for you,” and that if
anyone should have compassion for another human being, it should be
you.

Clearly, prison is a dehumanizing experience. While I
understand that it is not your job to clarify your feelings, how would
you respond to the woman’s comments?

JL-This is the first
time that I have seen these comments [I mailed Jeff a print out of the
Indy post]. It is obviously a little difficult to respond to something
I experienced years ago.

My friend Randy Cross-who took his
own life no to long after-killed a man. I watched that man die. I felt
nothing as I did. It was simply just another day in prison.

Many people cannot begin to grasp the violent life of a max security
prison. The threat of death is in the air everyday. I lived that life
without cowering from it. When threatened with violence I responded in
kind. When threatened with being stabbed I had my own shank to turn to.

Every one of my friends had a weapon hidden somewhere. Prison
is a war zone. We struggle for territory, space, to avoid becoming a
victim. Right or wrong, that was my life. I fought, I stood my ground,
and I survived.

When I learned the man Randy killed was a
child molester who admitted in court that he raped and used a foreign
object inside a little girl, a girl who wasn’t even yet twelve, I was
glad the monster was dead. There are several monsters that I would like
to see dead and not all are in prison. Some start unjust wars.

I’m not sorry the guy died. And I don’t need to justify or explain that
feeling. What I am sorry about is that I can watch that level of
violence and be unaffected by it. I’m sorry that society makes monsters
that must be killed.

MG-What do you think the world will look
like to you when you hear the steel door close behind you for the last
time and you walk free? What do you think you will look like to the
world? How will you see yourself?

JL-I think the only difference is that the world and I will both be a little older.

To learn more about the case and work of Jeffrey Luers, go to:

http://www.freefreenow.org

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