[For previous days' Trial updates checkout: www.EvergladesEarthFirst.org]
A verdict and sentencing was given Friday afternoon. 6 defendants with the Earth First! movement from all across Florida and the U.S. were found guilty of 3 charges: unlawful assembly, trespass, and resisting. The sentence is a year of probation; no contact with the Palm Beach Aggregates or West County Energy Center (WCEC) site; and $333 in court costs. There will be a restitution hearing to decide if they will be required to pay the Sheriff's decision to pay overtime, for which the State is requesting $20,000.
In my opinion, the defense was excellent and compelling, offering the jury various legal opportunities to side with the environment over the State. We can only guess why they chose the decisions they made. I want to thank all the attorneys who worked on this case and all the people who showed up in court to support our efforts. It was very heartening to those in front of the Judge to see green shirts in the audience, representing the cross-generational solidarity in our fight to stop the FPL's new fossil fuel plans.
As indicated below, the trial was a success in capturing peoples' attention and informing the public on the pending threats of the WCEC through the media, the jury selection and the our week long presence in the courthouse. And there is certainly more to come...
There are 13 remaining defendants who have been given a court date of July 15. Are likely to also take their cases to a public trial and will be looking for a showing of community support in the court room. Although we were fortunate to have representation from the Public Defenders office, we have incurred legal costs in this case, and of course are also amassing legal costs for our civil challenges to the WCEC construction. Donations would be greatly appreciated.
On I-69 & Southern Indiana:
As our court date was wrapping up, we received a call from friends and fellow environmental activists in Indiana that people were being arrested for their tree-sit blockade to stop I-69 (the 'NAFTA Superhighway') from being built through forests, wetlands, farms and homes. We offer our thoughts and actions to them and hope others will do they same, as people there have been following and supporting our efforts here in the Everglades. There are even some of the same companies involved in the WCEC and I-69. Below this email is information on supporting them, including some simple phone calls and emails, which all of us can do from home.. Perhaps we can plan something for Monday at the local office for Zachry Construction?!
Please show your solidarity with these committed activists in the heartland!!
For the Wild,
panagioti tsolkas
Co-chair, Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition
Everglades Earth First! activist
6/21/08
"Power-plant protesters found guilty, given probation" by Kelly Wolfe
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/local_news/epaper/2008/06/20/s1b_fpl20_0621.html?cxntlid=inform_artr
6/20/08
"FPL plant risky to environment, chemist testifies" K. Wolfe
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/local_news/epaper/2008/06/19/s4b_fpl_0620.html
6/19/08
"Free speech area' issue raised at protest trial" K. Wolfe
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/local_news/epaper/2008/06/18/s1b_fpl_0619.html
TV news coverage from Fox 29:
http://www.wflxfox29.com/Global/story.asp?S=8511254
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Call for URGENT Support of activists in Indiana:
CHECK stopi69.wordpress.com for more information!
PLEASE forward to as many individuals and list serves as possible!
Urgent Update on the Tree Sit's Eviction and how you can help
At 5:45 am local time, over 25 officers from three different agencies descended on the scene of the anti I-69 tree sit. Over the next few hours, the officers worked to bring both of the tree-borne protesters down and promptly placed them under arrest. For more info, check the press release at the end of this email...
Arrests from this morning now total 8, with police actively hunting down any of those who have been involved in the sit. Donations for the legal support for these individuals are greatly and urgently needed. We have a paypal account set up, which can be found on the front page of our website (stopi69.wordpress.com)...
Other options can be arranged by emailing i69legal@yahoo.com.
The life-threatening actions of the cops, and INDOT's despicable attitudes generally, must not go unchallenged. Below is a list of the contacts for some of the responsible parties:
INDOT Central Office 317-232-5319
Vincennes District Office 812-895-7301
INDOT Legal Office 317 234 2682
the I-69 Project Manager, Steven Smith 317-232-5646
Gohmann Asphalt and Construction (contracted to do the clearing and construction of the first 1.77 miles of the route this summer)
812-282-1349; their fax numbers are 812-288-2168, 812-385-1207, 812- 768-5251
Otherwise, any visible, public response to the agencies involved would be particularly effective at this time. There has been a general call out for Monday, the 23rd to be a day of solidarity actions. These actions would certainly mean a lot right now to those involved in the sit to the vast majority of Indiana residents that are opposed to this road.
You can check the websites of involved companies for more info on where their offices are:
Zachry Construction Corporation (THIS IS THE SAME COMPANY CONSTRUCTING FPL's WEST COUNTY ENERGY CENTER!!!) -
www.zachry.com
Gohmann Asphalt & Construction, http://www.gohmannasphalt.com/
Michael Baker, Inc. -
www.mbakercorp.com
BAA Indianapolis LLC -
www.indianapolisairport.com/pages/baa.html
DLZ-
www.dlzcorp.com
Wilbur Smith Associates -
www.wilbursmith.com
HNTB-
http://www.hntb.com/
Bernardin Lochmueller and Associates
http://www.blainc.com/home.html
Ozark Underground Laboratories -
www.ozarkundergroundlab.com
Zachry Construction Corporation -
www.zachry.com
I-69 Media Office
323 S Walnut
Bloomington, IN
47401
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ANTI-I69 TREE SIT EVICTED, POLICE DANGEROUSLY PULL PROTESTERS FROM TREE TOPS
June 20th 7am, Evansville Indiana -- In the early morning hours of June 20th, around 25 police officers from the Indiana State Police (ISP), Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Gibson County Sheriff's office descended on the scene of the anti-I69 tree sit, just south of State Road 68 in southern Gibson County (20 miles north of Evansville). The police officers, many of them trained specifically for this purpose, brought in "cherry pickers" and other platform raising equipment in order to reach the sitters. The two people in the trees at the time of eviction were lowered to the ground, after being forcefully and dangerously approached by Conservation Officers of the IDNR.
Sitting on platforms suspended 40 feet above the ground, the tree-sitters were not in positions from which they could be easily and safely removed. Arresting officers' reckless behaviors, however, resulted in protesters' quick eviction. One protester was not attached to a safety line during the eviction, but was still hostilely handled by the Conservation Officers. As they reached her with the cherry picker, they pulled her unattached to anything that would have prevented her tumbling to the ground, putting her life in great danger.
After evicting the first sitter, officers moved on to the second. They raised the cherry picker below the platform to threaten the sitter, and then lifted the platform with the cherry picker. They proceeded to cut the support line that was holding it in the tree. This protester had locked himself onto the ropes using a "lock box" device intended to help him evade eviction. The officers cut that rope, leaving this protester also without any form of safety.
After the tree-sitters were forcibly removed from their tree top positions, they were lowered, cuffed and placed on the ground below the trees. From a telephone recording made during the eviction, it is clear that the arresting officers purposefully laid one of the protesters face down into a patch of poison ivy.
People not involved in the tree-sit eviction this morning have reported to the media office that state police officers are pulling people over on the state highways in the vicinity of the sit. One person reports that they were surrounded by 5 police vehicles when stopped. As well, it has been reported that one car had its tires blown out by the state police in order for them to arrest all of the occupants of that vehicle.
The information in this press release was compiled by the I-69 Media Office, an independent anti-I69 media clearinghouse. All questions should be directed to the media contact given in this release.
xxx
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