Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

June 10-12 Weekend of Resistance for Jeff 'Free' Luers

Friends of Jeff 'Free' Luers | 02.02.2005 02:25 | Ecology

June 2005 marks the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of our
friend and comrade: Oregon environmental political prisoner, Jeff “Free”
Luers.

photo of Jeff Luers
photo of Jeff Luers


June 2005 marks the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of our
friend and comrade: Oregon environmental political prisoner, Jeff “Free”
Luers. Jeff was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for burning
three Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) at a car dealership in Eugene, Oregon,
and on trumped up attempted arson charges. Jeff set fire to
SUVs to call attention to climate change and to protest oil wars and
environmental destruction. Jeff was motivated by compassion and a desire
to protect life, not to harm it, despite what some might think of his
tactics. Prior to his arrest, Jeff was a popular community activist in
Eugene. He was well-known to law enforcement because of his involvement
with national forest protection (starting an occupation of a controversial
old-growth timber sale in 1998), anti-police brutality activism
(documenting rampant police abuse in Eugene), free food programs in a
local park and his teaching of self-defense to women. Since his
imprisonment, Jeff has continued to be extremely active in prison and
fight oppression with his words and inspiration.

On June 12, 2004, social and environmental activists in the US, Canada,
England, Scotland, Norway, Finland, Australia, and Russia participated in
an “International Day of Action” with Jeff by organizing non-violent
protests and community events to show their support for him and their
disgust for his cruel sentence. The FBI responded by creating a real
'Green Scare', sending a memo to businesses, corporate media, and
government agencies warning of planned “terrorist attacks” by the “Earth
Liberation Front” on June 12. Of course, no “terrorist attacks” ever
occurred. All of the events were peaceful and public, ranging from
concerts and demonstrations, to video showings and dinner parties. Even
some mainstream media outlets recognized the FBI memo for what it was - a
manipulative, dishonest attempt to incite fear- and criticized them for
that. Some participants in the June 12 day of action withstood intense
harassment including being photographed, videotaped and questioned with
one group actually being evicted due to the hysteria from the FBI.

Since the June 12, 2004 Day of Action, support for Jeff has continued to grow
and strengthen. People all over the world see Jeff as a political prisoner
and acknowledge that his sentence is meant as a deterrent to increased
resistance to oppression. Overall however, the political climate in the US
and abroad has become more corrupt and repressive. On the home-front, the
prison industrial complex continues to expand, repressive laws and
legislation continued to get pushed by lying politicians, political
prisoners are denied parole as the real criminals receive little or no
punishment, and the already weak laws that exist to protect the
environment are quickly being eliminated by blood-thirsty industry and the
Bush administration. On the international level, the Bush regime is
intensifying military aggression in Iraq, planning future actions in Iran
and the proposed Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales is attempting to
undermine the Geneva Convention to justify the torture tactics used by US
soldiers and prison guards at Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay. The
conditions are ripe to expose the hypocrisy of the system. Opposition and
dissent is needed now possibly more than ever before.

During the weekend of June 10-12th, 2005, social justice activists from
across the world are called upon again to organize and show their outrage
about Jeff’s imprisonment and the continued abuse and isolation of
dissident prisoners across the globe. State repression is meant as a
deterrent to social and environmental movements all over. Jeff received a
sentence of over 22 years for an action that harmed no one except for the
pocketbook of a local car dealer. Typical arson charges in Oregon result
in sentences less than five years. The Judge in Jeff's case sentenced a
man to 18 years last year for child molestation. Charles Graner Jr,
responsible for the brutal torture and sexual harassment of Iraqi
Prisoners of War at Abu Gharib received only ten years! Every day in
every city, cops receive little or no punishment for crimes against the
public. This cannot be tolerated! Fight for the political prisoners
because they have fought for you, against racism & poverty, war &
imperialism, and the pillaging of the natural world. They’re in there for
us - we are out here for them!

June 10-12th, 2005, is a Weekend of Resistance with Jeff “Free” Luers.
There is no central organizing body or group to check in
with but the Jeff Luers Support Network can help by providing you with
flyers, graphics, and merchandise such as videos, zines and stickers about
Jeff and allies in the struggle. Begin planning your event now. Read more
about Jeff’s case at  http://www.freefreenow.org. Read more about political
prisoners at  http://www.thejerichomovement.com. Plan an action that makes
sense for your area: a demonstration, treesit, music festival, teach-in,
stenciling campaign, rally, protests at an American consulate or embassy
overseas or public forum. Circulate petitions. Write letters to the
Governor of Oregon asking him to look into Jeff's case. Contribute to
Jeff's legal defense. Do what you think is appropriate. But please
remember when planning an action or event think about how it could affect
Jeff’s upcoming appeal. Ask yourself: does this help or hurt Jeff? Does
this strengthen the movement or weaken it in the long-term? More ideas for
action and updates for the June 10-12 Weekend of Resistance for Jeff
'Free' Luers will be posted to www.freefreenow.org/june2005.html

East Coast contact: Friends of Jeff 'Free' Luers  freefreenow@mutualaid.org
West Coast Contacts: Break the Chains  breakthechains02@yahoo.com
San Francisco Jeffrey Luers Support Network
 freejeffreyluers@resist.ca

Friends of Jeff 'Free' Luers
- e-mail: freefreenow@mutualaid.org
- Homepage: http://www.freefreenow.org/june2005.html

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech