In 2021 she was sentenced to 8 years in prison with a domestic terrorism enhancement. ... Under normal conditions Jess would have been sentenced to 37 months, but the terrorism enhancement resulted in a sentence of 96 months.The Des Moines Register unsympathetically describes her offense. Along with another woman, she
... repeatedly vandalized construction sites connected to the 1,172-mile [oil] pipeline in 2016 and 2017, setting a bulldozer on fire and using oxy-acetylene torches to damage pipeline valves across Iowa. The total cost of the damage is not known, but in one incident in Buena Vista County alone it was estimated at $2.5 million.Nobody was hurt. Her protest damaged a corporation's bottom line and delayed the Dakota Access Pipeline much less than she, or many of us, would wish.
This tar sands oil pipeline could pollute the water supply of much of the Mississippi River Basin.
And more enhancements to the oil supply is the last thing any of us need in the era of climate change.
Reznicek did not try to hide from the feds when they came after her. This was classic civil disobedience.
But to a federal judge thinks she's a "terrorist" and sentenced her accordingly.
• • •
Meanwhile Heather Cox Richardson reports that in Washington, D.C., the courts are confronted by an offender who sure seems to me a better fit for the "terrorist" label.
... the Department of Justice requested that the first defendant from the January 6 insurrection to be convicted at trial, Guy Reffitt, be sentenced to 15 years in prison. This is an upward adjustment of sentencing guidelines because the department is asking the judge to consider Reffitt’s actions as terrorism, since the offense for which he was convicted “was calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct.”
Reffitt was a leader of the Texas Three Percenters militia gang, which calls for “rebellion” against the federal government. He came to Washington, D.C., for January 6. He attacked U.S. Capitol Police officers and encouraged others to do so before entering the Capitol armed with a handgun, where he targeted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and then–Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
A camera on his helmet recorded Reffitt’s words that day. “I’m taking the Capitol with everybody f*cking else,” Reffitt told the people around him. “We’re all going to drag them m*therf*ckers out kicking and screaming. I don’t give a sh*t. I just want to see Pelosi’s head hit every f*cking stair on the way out. (Inaudible) F*ck yeah. And Mitch McConnell too. F*ck ‘em all. They f*cked us too many g*dd*mn years for too f*cking long. It’s time to take our country back. I think everybody’s on the same d*mn wavelength. And I think we have the numbers to make it happen…. [W]e’ve got a f*cking president. We don’t need much more. We just get rid of them m*therf*ckers and start over.”
Afterward, he boasted, “We took the Capital [sic] of the United States of America and we will do it again.”Now that's one scary guy. Prison is no good for anyone, But there are sure a lot of us who don't want him near by.
Millions of dollars of damage? Sorry, this is not civil disobedience, what Jessica Reznicek did is criminal damage and more than justifies the prison term. The cause does not justify the actions... Torch a pipeline or bomb a women's heath center? Both are actions of strong belief by those commiting the act, however arguable they may be. Both are actions that deserve prosecution and significant prison time. Both are actions that could very easily cause injury or death to others who are present.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew. I think we disagree about who is a terrorist. I think actions deliberately intended to harm people directly are in a very different category than actions which have material consequences.
ReplyDelete(The pipeline sabotage was minor in the scheme things, though this one was unusually successful for the genre.) The pipeline action was aimed at earthmoving equipment, not people, and nobody was injured.
The militia guy got high off of trying to injure or kill his perceived enemies. Seems in a different category.
I think we've disagree on this before, and I certainly think people who can be considered Luddites can go too far. But these cases seem wildly different.
Hope all goes well with you!