ECOTERRORISM AS A CAREER

Jeff Luers torched three SUVs at an Oregon dealership, refused to plea bargain and ended up sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison. Gregory Dicum interviews anarchist punk Luers for SF Gate:

Did you consider yourself engaged in terrorism when you set fire to those SUVs?

No. Really, when you look at the use of the word today, terrorism is nothing more than a way to define armed struggles that you disagree with.

We were trying to draw attention to the use of resources in America that are contributing to climate change and global warming. Obviously, during an act of property destruction, objects are smashed, burned or demolished. That happens. But what makes an individual act of sabotage more heinous than crimes committed by governments and transnational corporations? If we're going to look at the definition of terrorism or the definition of violence, then we need to put it in its proper perspective. We certainly ought to open the definition up to corporate destruction of rivers, forests, oceans and all ecosystems, because those certainly aren't acts of love.

The SUV caper wasn't your first attempt to bring attention to environmental issues. What other efforts had you been involved in prior to that action?

I had been involved in civil-disobedience direct action. I spent a year and a half in an endangered old-growth forest outside of Eugene. I've done tree sits, roadblocks, lockdowns and some more confrontational things. I've been involved in street protests. I've met with and lobbied members of Congress. I've debated with timber-industry officials.

Was burning the SUVs the most extreme thing you'd done?

Yeah, I'd say it was.

Were you conscious of it being a step in a new direction for you?

I was trying to move into the realm of more radical actions. If you compare arson actions that have happened in the U.S., the majority of them were quite major. That's the goal that I was working toward -- to be more of an underground guerrilla activist. The SUVs were kind of a baby step.

Jeez, how does someone end up on the ecoterrorist career path? By the look of him I'd say his career options were limited.

If I had my way the 22 year six month sentence would be set aside and this clown would disappear into the gulag. I mean really, if you have a gulag, you might as well use it.