Forest militant now in B.C. jail decries 'terrorist' label

By Andrew Kramer
The Associated Press

	Tre Arrow
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Now he's in a jail cell in Victoria, facing charges of trying to shoplift bolt cutters. He's begun a hunger strike to protest what he calls injustices in the U.S. legal system, and he's eager to talk about the evils of corporate culture — although not the FBI's case against him.

"As an activist, I stand tall. I hold my head high," Arrow said in an interview with The Associated Press at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre.

Arrow, 30, was born Michael Scarpitti but says the trees told him to change his name. He gained notice by scaling the offices of the U.S. Forest Service in Portland in 2000 and perching on a narrow ledge for 11 days to protest logging on Mount Hood.

Arrow says he is not a terrorist.

"They (the FBI) want to label me the 'T' word," said Arrow, a veteran of anti-logging protests in Oregon who likes to go barefoot to protect the Earth and is seen as something of a folk hero among environmental militants.

Arrow said he will fight deportation to the United States, contending he wouldn't get a fair trial because of the FBI's assertion the crimes he is accused of are acts of terrorism.

Arrow is accused in Oregon of use of fire to commit a felony, destruction of vehicles used in interstate commerce and use of incendiary devices in a crime of violence. The charges carry combined penalties of up to 80 years in prison.

The FBI thinks he's more than an activist. He is accused of firebombing logging trucks and cement trucks in two separate attacks in Oregon in 2001 and is suspected of having links with the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), a shadowy group that has claimed responsibility for scores of acts of destruction and vandalism over the past dozen years.

Arrow was arrested in March. His capture had become a priority for the FBI, said Julie Thornton, the agent in charge of domestic-terrorism investigations in Oregon.

Although the FBI's focus has been on preventing attacks from the likes of al-Qaida, the agency has not let up in its battles against the ELF and similar groups, Thornton said.
 
"It's a huge part of what we do," she said.

The FBI has had some successes against the ELF. Across the country, at least eight people with suspected ties to the group have been arrested in the past few years.

According to Canadian officials, Arrow was captured when he took bolt cutters from a home-improvement store in Victoria and a check of his fingerprints showed he was wanted by the FBI.

Now he is sitting in a Canadian jail where he eagerly denounces what he considers the militarization of U.S. society, cruelty to animals and corporations.

"Corporations need to be held accountable for endangering the lives of humans and making a profit off it," he said.

So far, it is unclear when Arrow will be sent back to the U.S. to stand trial. The Canadians could drop the shoplifting charges against him and extradite him.

"I don't care about me. We're talking about ancient forest that doesn't grow back in a couple of years. We're talking about a planet that cannot be replaced," he said. "That to me is far more important than one person's individual case."

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