Tre Arrow

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Tre Arrow, (born Michael James Scarpitti in 1974), Florida native, is an environmental activist, currently facing charges of arson and conspiracy in Oregon by the United States Government.

1 Background
2 Arson incidents
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Background

Arrow first came to attention of police and international media in July 2000 when he scaled a U.S. Forest Service building in downtown Portland and lived on a ledge for 11 days to protest the plan to log Eagle Creek. [1] His protest played an important role in reversing the Forest Service's plans to log the area.[2]

Arrow ran for Congress in 2000 and received 15,000 votes as a Pacific Green Party candidate.[3]

In October 2001, he suffered a broken pelvis, broken ribs and a concussion when he fell 60 feet from a hemlock tree where he had perched to protest a logging sale in Tillamook County.[4] Arrow's supporters blame his fall on the Oregon Forestry Department's use of sleep deprivation techniques during Arrow's tree-sit.

[edit] Arson incidents

Arrow is wanted by the FBI in connection with the April 15, 2001 arson at Ross Island Sand and Gravel in Portland, Oregon. Three trucks were damaged in the amount of $200,000. The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed this fire via a written communique. The U.S. Department of Justice says it considers ELF to be the worst "domestic terrorism group." Another arson occurred a month later at Ray Schoppert Logging Company in Estacada, Oregon, on June 1, 2001. Two logging trucks and a front loader were damaged in this attack, resulting in $50,000 dollars worth of damage. The ELF did not claim responsibility, but the explosions were similarly created by milk jugs filled with gasoline, and a fuse made from incense and a pack of matches.

Jacob Sherman, a 21-year old University student was subsequently arrested by the FBI and interrogated on four separate occasions. About four months after his arrest Sherman admitted to his involvement in both arsons and in order to avoid a potential life sentence in prison, Sherman named two others who had participated in the crimes: Angela Marie Cesario and Jeremy David Rosenbloom. All three entered guilty pleas and named the high profile activist Tre Arrow as the mastermind behind the arsons.[5] Arrow was indicted by a federal grand jury in Oregon and charged with four felonies for this crime on October 18, 2002.[6] He entered the FBI's most-wanted list, and appeared on America's Most Wanted.
Arrow fled to Canada, were he hoped to receive political asylum. In 2004, he was arrested in Victoria, British Columbia while shoplifting a pair of bolt-cutters. He was also charged for resisting arrest. His fingerprints later showed that he is wanted in the U.S.. He is currently in custody in Victoria's Wilkinson Penitentiary, fighting extradition back to the USA, where he faces a possible sentence of life in prison. He feels he will not receive a fair trial in the states due to character assassination by the media. Despite the judge ruling that the term "terrorist" must not be used in the case, several newspapers have labeled Arrow an "eco-terrorist" in their headlines.[7]