Federal Trial for Activist BLM “Wrencher” Begins

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Federal Trial for Activist BLM “Wrencher” Begins SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Today marks the opening day of the trial of “monkey- wrencher” climate activist Tim DeChristopher. In December of 2008, DeChristopher shut down a controversial BLM auction that offered thousands of acres of public lands adjacent to Utah national parks and residential areas for purchase by oil and gas companies. When apprehended by federal agents DeChristopher told authorities he disrupted the auction purposefully, citing a moral imperative to halt the conversion of Utah’s pristine and protected wilderness areas into fossil fuel extraction sites, without regard to environmental harm or contributions to climate change. The auction was overruled by incoming secretary Ken Salazar, who determined that the BLM had failed to complete procedural prerequisites with regard to the effect on ambient air and environmental quality of the national treasures adjacent to the leased lands. The legality of the auction itself, however, has since been dismissed as irrelevant and potentially distracting by federal judge Dee Benson; Benson also rejected DeChristopher’s proposed “necessity defense,” which would have taken into account the BLM auction’s threat to Utah’s public natural resources and contributions to climate change, and weighed DeChristopher’s crime as a “less of two evils.” The controversy of the illegitimate auction and the moral imperative that motivated DeChristopher will be absent from the courtroom. DeChristopher’s supporters have traveled from across the nation and include actress Daryl Hannah, writer Terry Tempest Williams, and songwriter and activist Peter Yarrow. Aided by DeChristopher’s nonprofit organization, Peaceful Uprising, his supporters intend to attempt to convey widespread approval of his actions and the controversial facts of the auction that have been banned from the courtroom via peaceful demonstrations on the courthouse lawn. If convicted of his unusual charges (violation of the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act, and false statement) DeChristopher faces up to ten years in jail and enormous fines. He has rejected plea bargains from the prosecution. The trial is anticipated to last through Wednesday. For more information contact Peaceful Uprising’s Flora Bernard: (801) 699 7323 [email protected].

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