Marshall’s Blog | Crazy Mormon Lib

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

In America, you can face up to 10 years in prison for standing up for what’s right in a nonviolent way. That’s what’s happening to Tim DeChristopher, a University of Utah student who was charged today for disrupting an oil and gas leasing auction of public land in Utah back in December.

Tim drove the price of the land up and really pissed off the oil companies. He also ended up winning about $1.8 million worth of leases himself. He raised enough money to cover the first down payment, and felt confident he could raise money for the subsequent installments, but that didn’t matter.

The Obama administration nullified the acution in February because it was hasty and involved sensitve lands. That is exactly why Tim took direct action back in December. He was able to delay things long enough for Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to review the whole mess and recind the leases.

Still, U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman, is charging DeChristopher with two felonies worth 10 years in prision and up to $750,000 in fines. Tolman announced it on April Fool’s Day, which is appropriate. Considering the seriousness of the charges, I’ve got to ask, what was the damage here?

Bascially, the government isn’t out anything. The oil and gas guys and the BLM had to play by the rules and set up a legitimate auction, which went off without a hitch last week. But DeChristopher is still getting charged.

I suppose Tolman thinks it’s the principal of the thing. But 1o years? This is nuts. Sex offenders and armed robbers get lesser sentences. If this goes through, America will have to ask itself why one of its citizens ended up in prision for a decade simply for following his conscience in a nonviolent way. This would be a travesty and embarrassment to our entire nation.

What is Tolman thinking? Why doesn’t Obama and Salazar chime in? If DeChristopher gets charged, what happens to the BLM officals that set up the faulty auction in the first place? Do they get life in prison? 

Here is DeChristopher’s statement:

On December 19th, 2008 I took what I considered to be ethical, necessary, and direct action to try to protect our planet, our democracy, and my fellow human beings. In that spirit of protection, I took nonviolent action, which did not harm anyone nor destroy any property. 

My actions stopped what I believe was an illegal and certainly unethical auction of red rock public lands in Southern Utah. This auction was a fraud against the American people and a threat to my future. My motivations to act against this auction came from the exploitation of public lands, the lack of a transparent and participatory government, and the imminent danger of climate change. 

I acted openly and honestly because I was then, and still am ready to take the consequences of my actions. I had hoped the wheels of justice, particularly with a new Administration, would recognize the merit of my actions and their results, and not pursue prosecution. Those hopes were misplaced, and now my hopes rest on a jury of my peers.  

I have a proven legal team with Ron Yengich and Pat Shea. In a matter that will undoubtedly go to trial, my team will have a chance to demonstrate the corruption of the system which “awards” oil and gas leases to the highest bidders, yet, where the public and the environment are without representation and ultimately are really the only victims through the catastrophic effect of climate change. This trial will be an opportunity to address our moral imperative to defend a livable future for our children.

I hope my actions will be understood by others who learn about the depth of manipulation in our system. I deeply appreciate the enormous support I have already received, and I hope it will continue in the future. If my actions inspire others to work for change, any consequences I have to face will be worth it.

Tim DeChristopher

Ken Salazar, the Secretary of Interior, announced today that the Bush administration’s last-minute efforts to lease public land in Utah to oil and gas companies is on indefinite hold. This is great news for anyone who cares about protecting wilderness in Utah and the rest of the country.

It’s also great news for Tim DeChristopher, the University of Utah student who disrupted and delayed the auction by getting in and bidding on the land. He successfully drove up the prices and won over 22,000 acres worth about $1.8 million. He didn’t have the money, but he was able to raise enough for the down payment. His act of civil disobedience stalled the lease sales long enough that the Obama administration could take a look at it.

So, today is a huge victory. The only people not celebrating are the oil and gas companies and the U.S. Attorney for Utah, Brett L. Tolman. Here is an excerpt from his press release today:

“Today’s decision by the Interior Department to withdraw the BLM oil and gas leases in Utah does not impact our obligation to analyze the facts and law at the time of the alleged conduct in the DeChristopher case. The decision to withdraw the leases does not wipe the slate clean.  We are obligated to enforce the law, a responsibility we take very seriously.  As we do with every case referred to our office, we will continue to carefully review the facts in this case and, if appropriate, present it to a grand jury.  Because it is an ongoing criminal investigation, we will not be making further comment.”

So, even though the auction was illegitimate to begin with, DeChristopher is the one who is still on the hook for delaying it. That’s American justice for you. The person with the least amount of power and influence will inevitably get stuck with the bill.

It’s still a great day, and if you have a chance, stop by www.peacefuluprising.org and tell Tim thanks.

The following is a blog entry I made three years ago on Martin Luther King Jr. Day from Iraq. If you can’t tell, I was a little bit bitter.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I was hoping we’d get the day off, but that didn’t happen. G.W., whose visit to King’s grave was heavily protested, recently said that America has made progress toward King’s dream, but we’re not there yet.

This is one of those special occasions when I agree with G.W. Within the military in Iraq, I don’t see a lot of tension between white and black soldiers. It doesn’t mean it’s not there, I just haven’t experienced it. However, I have been witness to the emergence of a new racial epithet for Arabs.

Haji, once an honorable term for one who had made the pilgrimage to Mecca, has moved into popular use among soldiers to denigrate and generalize Arabs and those who live in predominately Arab nations. Spencer Case wrote a great editorial about it in the Jan. 15 edition of the Anaconda Times on pg. 2. It will also run in the Army Times soon and you can read it on his blog, Case and Point, atwww.spencercaselog.blogspot.com.

The chow hall was nice. They made a huge MLK cake. I couldn’t help but notice that it was a two layer cake, vanilla and chocolate. I nearly teared up as I realized that, in a small way, this cake was realizing Dr. King’s dream. Two separate flavors combining to form one cake. But then I realized that the vanilla layer was on top of the chocolate and that they were separated by an impenetrable layer of cream cheese icing. Just another example of the vanilla cake keeping the chocolate cake down.

So, yes, G.W., I guess we’re not there yet.

Last night I had the opportunity to meet Tim DeChristopher and hear him speak. I’ve been following his story for a while and the web design company I work for did some touch ups on his site, www.bidder70.com. Still, I wanted to meet him and make sure he’s the real deal. I’m happy to report that he is.

He’s intelligent, sincere and dedicated. His unexpectedly effective act of civil disobedience came out of a long and thoughtful history of trying to make the world a better place for our generation and for future generations. It also came from a pragmatic understanding of economics and the worth of nature.

The best thing about his ballsy bidding was it embodied the highest level of civil disobedience, direct action. I define this as protesting an unjust law by directly violating that specific law. The classic example of this is Gandhi’s salt march. The colonial government said that Indians could not make their own salt, an obviously unjust law. So Gandhi walked to the sea and made salt – directly challenging, and eventually ending the injustice.

While I’m a big fan of civil disobedience, I hesitate when it comes to indirect strategies. For instance, say you want to protest a nuclear weapons facility, so you jump the fence and have a sit-in. The law you would be violating is trespassing, but the thing you want to protest is nuclear weapons. I still applaud the effort, but it does lack the symmetry of Gandhi’s march.

That’s what makes Tim’s action so powerful. He was protesting the unchecked executive powers that led to the disgraceful and illegitimate auction of public lands to private interests. In a direct and upfront way, he struck right at the heart of the beast. Now it’s our turn to follow suit.