Tre Arrow

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Tre Arrow

Tre Arrow, is an environmental activist and political prisoner who gained prominence in the U.S. state of Oregon in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Arrow was extradited from Canada to Portland, Oregon on February 29, 2008 to face 14 counts of arson and conspiracy.^[1] These actions were claimed as acts of protest by the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front (ELF). On June 3rd, 2008 Arrow entered into a non-cooperation agreement in which he plead guilty to 2 counts of arson .^[2]

1 Background
2 Arson incidents
3 Legal proceedings
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Background

Tre Arrow (born Michael Scarpetti in 1974) first came to public attention in July 2000 when he scaled a U.S. Forest Service building in downtown Portland, Oregon and lived on a nine-inch ledge for eleven days, to protest the plan to log near Eagle Creek, Oregon.^[3] His protest played an important role in reversing the Forest Service's plans to log the area.^[4]

Arrow ran for Congress in 2000 and received 15,000 votes as a Pacific Green Party candidate.^[5]

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.^[3] Arrow's supporters blame his fall on the Oregon Department of Forestry's use of sleep deprivation techniques during Arrow's tree sit.^{[citation needed]}

[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. 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, resulting in $50,000 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.

[edit] Legal proceedings

Jacob Sherman, a 21-year-old Portland State 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. In order to avoid a potential life sentence in prison, Sherman named three others who had participated in the crimes: Tre Arrow, Angela Marie Cesario and Jeremy David Rosenbloom. Facing near certain conviction themselves because of Jake's testimony, Angela and Jeremy decided to enter plea agreements since Sherman had already implicated Tre Arrow. All three entered guilty pleas and while Sherman named the high profile activist Tre Arrow as the mastermind behind the arsons, Cesario and Rosenbloom disputed this and testified that Jacob himself was the mastermind.^[4]

Arrow was indicted by a federal grand jury in Oregon and charged with four felonies for this crime on October 18, 2002.^[3] He was listed on the FBI's December 2002 most-wanted list, and appeared on the America's Most Wanted television program.^[6]

Arrow sought political asylum in Canada. on March 13th, 2004, Arrow was arrested in Victoria and charged with being in Canada illegally. He was in custody in Victoria's Wilkinson Penitentiary, fighting extradition back to the United States, where he faced a possible sentence of life in prison.

Arrow's family and supporters have expressed concern that he can not receive a fair trial in the United States due to character assassination by the media; several newspapers have referred to Arrow as an "eco-terrorist",^[7]^[8] and the FBI held his capture up as an example of its success in prosecuting terrorists in a 2004 report to Congress.^[9] Judges in both Canadian and American cases against him have ruled that the term "terrorist" could not be used during the proceedings against him.^[10]