cunt sauce Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 What a hero. Can't believe you can face 10 years for making a false bid on land. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/28/tim-dechristopher-trial-oil-gas The trial has begun of a US activist accused of sabotaging an oil and gas land auction by bidding $1.7m (£1.05m) for land parcels that he could not pay for. Tim DeChristopher, whose case has attracted support from high-profile environmentalists including actor Daryl Hannah and environmentalist Bill McKibben, faces up to 10 years' jail if found guilty. At an auction in Utah on 19 December, 2008 – the last before the end of George Bush's term in office, and seen as a gift for the oil and gas industry – 130,000 acres of land near pristine areas of Utah such as Nine Mile Canyon and Dinosaur National Monument were due to be sold off. DeChristopher, then a 27-year-old economics student at Utah, walked into the auction and signed up as Bidder 70. He proceeded to bid on a number of parcels, driving up prices and buying $1.7m of land for himself. The auctioneers called a five-minute break, and DeChristopher was taken into custody. He has since been charged with two felonies; making a false statement, and violating the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act. The auction was suspended, and the lots later withdrawn by Barack Obama's interior secretary, Ken Salazar. The case has attracted support from leading US environmentalists. Last year McKibben, Nasa scientist James Hansen, and Naomi Klein co-authored a letter calling for support for Bidder 70, as DeChristopher has become known. A film is being made about the case and will be released shortly after the verdict. A group called Peaceful Uprising have been organising rallies in his support. In pre-trial hearings, DeChristopher has been forbidden to use the "necessity defence" which was used in the famous Kingsnorth Six trial in the UK, when a jury acquitted activists of causing criminal damage to a coal-power station chimney. The decision means that DeChristopher will not be permitted to argue that he was acting in order to prevent greater environmental damage. The defence team also sought to argue that the case is politically motivated, by demonstrating that in other cases where bidders have failed to pay, they have not been prosecuted. DeChristopher claims that at least 25 other cases have not been prosecuted. This argument was also blocked by Judge Dee Benson. DeChristopher, referred to by both opponents and supporters as a "monkey wrencher" – a tribute to the 1975 Edward Abbey novel The Monkey Wrench Gang in which the protagonist appoints himself protector of the remaining desert regions of the American south-west and becomes a pioneer in the art of "eco-tage" – told the Guardian: "I was very nervous when I went in to the auction but when I won my first parcel I felt totally calm and peaceful. It felt like the first time my actions had really been in line with my sentiment. Up to that point I knew that climate change was a really huge issue, and yet in response to that I was riding my bike and writing letters to Congress." The trial is scheduled to finish on Thursday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!@#$% Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 damn. i quite like that myself. i hope some of those 'hi profiles' help him out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RES4 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 He got found guilty. Sentencing won't be until June though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!@#$% Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 bummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcs Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 what are the sentencing guidelines? I expect his sentence will fall below the minimum unless the plan is to make a example of him. What did he expect to accomplish i'm curious? I mean.... after its discovered hes not good for the parcel they just re-sell it. He had no out plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ink face Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 DeChristopher, then a 27-year-old economics student at Utah, walked into the auction and signed up as Bidder 70. He proceeded to bid on a number of parcels, driving up prices and buying $1.7m of land for himself. The auctioneers called a five-minute break, and DeChristopher was taken into custody. He has since been charged with two felonies; making a false statement, and violating the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act. The auction was suspended, and the lots later withdrawn by Barack Obama's interior secretary, Ken Salazar. seems like he got what he wanted if his goal was to stop the land from being sold. Sucks he's looking at years for it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cunt sauce Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 "I understand that prison is a very horrible place, but i've been scared for my future for a long time. The scariest thing that I see is staying on the path that we're on right now. Obedience to me is much scarier than going to prison." "Climate change is a war against people and especially young people. People's lives are being traded for the profit of others. That's a war. And yet it doesn't look that way, it doesn't feel that way to most people. It just looks like businessmen making a profit. It looks like congressmen not doing their jobs very well. So when we make ourselves vulnerable and invite that reaction against ourselves, whether it's a physical reaction or a reaction of the legal system, it starts to reframe that perspective for people." Tim DeChristopher is king-status. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!@#$% Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 how incredibly sad that he is in the tiny minority. we need more people like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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