Tre Arrow

Tre Arrow (born Michael Scarpitti in 1974) is a green anarchist^[1][2] who gained prominence in the U.S. state of Oregon in the late 1990s and early 2000s for his environmental activism,^[3] bid for Congress as a Pacific Green Party candidate,^[4] and then for his arrest and later conviction for committing acts of arson on cement and logging trucks.^[5][6] He unsuccessfully sought political asylum in Canada, and was extradited to Portland, Oregon, on February 29, 2008, to face 14 counts of arson and conspiracy.^[7] These actions were claimed as acts of protest by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). On June 3, 2008, Arrow pled guilty to 2 counts of arson and was jailed for 78 months.^[8] He was released to a halfway house in 2009.^[9]

Background

Arrow 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.^[5] His protest played an important role in reversing the Forest Service's plans to log the area.^[10]

Arrow ran for Congress in 2000 and received 15,000 votes as a Pacific Green Party candidate.^[11]

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.^[12]

Arson incidents

Arrow was sought 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.

Arrest and 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. Cesario and Rosenbloom decided to enter plea agreements since Sherman had already implicated Arrow. All three entered guilty pleas and while Sherman named the high profile activist Arrow as the mastermind behind the arsons, Cesario and Rosenbloom disputed this and testified that Jacob himself was the mastermind.^[10]

Arrow was indicted by a federal grand jury in Oregon and charged with four felonies for this crime on October 18, 2002.^[13] He was listed on the FBI's December 2002 most-wanted list, and appeared on the America's Most Wanted television program.^[14]

Arrow fled to Canada, but on March 13, 2004, he was arrested in Victoria for stealing bolt cutters and was also charged with being in Canada illegally. He was in custody in Victoria's Wilkinson Penitentiary where he unsuccessfully fought extradition back to the United States.

Arrow's family and supporters had expressed concern that he could not receive a fair trial in the United States due to character assassination by the media; at least two newspapers have referred to Arrow as an "eco-terrorist",^[15][16] and the FBI held his capture up as an example of its success in prosecuting terrorists in a 2004 report to Congress.^[17] Judges in both Canadian and American cases against him have ruled that the term "terrorist" could not be used during the proceedings against him.^[18]

Arrow was sentenced August 12, 2008, in Portland Oregon federal court to 78 months in federal prison for his part in two arson attacks in 2001 by U.S. District Judge James A. Redden.^[19] Arrow had earlier pleaded guilty, acknowledging he set fire to cement-mixing trucks at Ross Island Sand and Gravel Company in Portland on April 15, 2001, and logging trucks at Schoppert Logging Company in Eagle Creek on June 1, 2001. Arrow’s three co-defendants had each completed 41-month prison terms in 2003. The Judge increased the ordinary 60-month mandatory minimum term for arson based on a finding that Arrow committed the arson attacks in an aggravated manner calculated to influence or affect the conduct of the victims by intimidation, coercion and retaliation.

In June 2009, Arrow entered a halfway house in Portland, Oregon, after a year in federal prison.^[9]

See also

• Green anarchism
• Veganarchism
• Raw veganism
• Jeff Luers - environmentalist sentenced to twenty-two years for SUV arson attacks in Eugene, released after serving ten
• Marie Mason - activist sentenced to twenty-two years for arson
• Direct action
• Green Scare
• Operation Backfire (FBI)
• Eco-terrorism
• Domestic terrorism

References

1. ^ Anarchist Eco-Terrorist Tre Arrow To Be Deported, Toronoto Sun, May 6, 2006.
2. ^ Tre Arrow says he’s not guilty of burning trucks, Portland Tribune, May 4, 2008.
3. ^ KPTV.com FOX 12 Oregon "Arrow's Ledge Sit Remains Famous Protest" [1], KPTV.com, March 3, 2008, accessed May 14, 2011.
4. ^ Redden, Jim [2], The Portland Tribune, March 16, 2004, accessed May 14, 2011.
5. ^ ^{a b} Budnick, Nick [3], The Portland Tribune, August 12, 2008, accessed May 14, 2011.
6. ^ The Associated Press [4], Oregonlive.com, Published: Thursday, June 04, 2009, accessed June 14, 2011.
7. ^ Denson, Bryan (March 1, 2008). "Fugitive Tre Arrow back in Portland". The Oregonian. 
8. ^ KTVZ.com Central Oregons News, Weather and Sports Leader - Tre Arrow says he plans guilty plea for arson, conspiracy
9. ^ ^{a b} http://news.opb.org/article/5172-tre-arrows-rides-away-almost-free-man/
10. ^ ^{a b} Smith, Carlton (November 26, 2003). "Grooming an ELF". Willamette Week. http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=4575. Retrieved 2007-04-19. 
11. ^ MacLeod, Andres (March 30, 2005). "Tre Arrow, the Straight Arrow". Willamette Week. http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=6156. Retrieved 2007-06-17. 
12. ^ Wentz, Patty and Chris Bryant "Fallen Arrow"[5], Willamette Week, October 10th, 2001, accessed May 14, 2011.
13. ^ Mccall, William (AP)"Two men indicted in ELF arson attack"[6], Seattle PI, October 18, 2002, accessed May 14, 2011.
14. ^ AR.net >> Discussion Forum >> Michael James Scarpitti aka Tre Arrow Added to FBI's Most Wanted List
15. ^ Hunting America's Most Wanted Eco-Terrorist : Rolling Stone
16. ^ "Alleged Ecoterrorist Arrested in Oregon". Fox News. March 15, 2004. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114256,00.html. 
17. ^ Federal Bureau of Investigation - Congressional Testimony
18. ^ Webb, Kate (March 22, 2006). "Jailed environmentalist launches hunger strike". Martlet. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928025308/http://martlet.ca/view.php?aid=38606. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
19. ^ http://www.mostwantedhoes.com/news/ecoarsonist.php

External links

• Tre Arrow's web site
• "‘Most wanted’ eco-terror arrest: FBI says Michael Scarpitti has ties to ELF group". MSNBC (Associated Press). March 16, 2004. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4534715/. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
• Sullivan, Randall (December 12, 2002). "Hunting America's Most Wanted Eco-Terrorist". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11034035/hunting_americas_most_wanted_ecoterrorist. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 

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Name	Arrow, Tre
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Date of birth	1974
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