Statement in Support of No More Deaths Volunteers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 14, 2005
Chuk’shon Earth First! Statement in Support of No More Deaths Volunteers
Contact: Ben Pachano, 884-0283
Yesterday afternoon, a federal court found two Earth First! activists guilty of conspiracy to interfere with federal officials—a felony—as well as two misdemeanors. Their supposed crime was attempting to save the lives of mountain lions who were being hunted in a joint effort of the Arizona Game and Fish Department and US Forest Service.
We live in a culture whose values are profoundly screwed up. We live in a country where people are prosecuted for trying to save lives. And let’s be clear: “Prosecuted” is just a fancy way of saying that the government wants to put people in a cage – just like they do to mountain lions, just like they do to the migrants they round up in the desert and transfer to “detention facilities.”
Earth First! believes in the sanctity of life, and we proudly proclaim that saving lives should never be a crime. And when the government makes it one, those laws should be broken over and over again until the whole sick, twisted system is forced to change. For this reason and many others, we are proud to stand in support of Shanti Sellz, Daniel Strauss and the No More Deaths campaign.
The prosecutions here in Tucson are not occurring in a vacuum. Last week, the FBI arrested six people (most of them activists) across the country in a series of surprise raids, and is charging them with various acts of property damage in defense of Mother Earth. The government is making a concerted effort to intimidate and jail all those who challenge the demented equation that values property and law above life itself.
The government would like nothing better than for us to distance ourselves from those who put their freedom on the line to save lives. That’s why it’s more important than ever for those of us who value the sanctity of life to stick together and support each other, to not let them divide us with petty disagreements or fears.
Earth First! is proud to embrace Shanti and Daniel as our sisters and brothers in the struggle, and they can count on our support.