RE: Operation THERMCON (short for "Thermite Conspiracy")

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: FREE FALL (system's down)
Date: Apr 23, 2007 12:16 AM


From: nierika
Date: Apr 22, 2007 9:03 PM


http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?tname=thermcon&hl=cointelpro&print=true

THERMCON

It has been suggested that Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist
International Conspiracy be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

THERMCON was the code name of a FBI operation which was
launched in response to the sabotage of the Arizona Snowbowl ski lift near
Flagstaff, Arizona in October 1987 by three people from Prescott, Arizona, Mark Davis, Margaret Millet, and Marc Baker. In a November, 1987 letter claiming
responsibility, the group called themselves the "Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist International Conspiracy" (EMETIC). The group named
themselves after Evan Mecham, a former Arizona governor. The Arizona Snowbowl spent $50,000
repairing the damage.

Short for "Thermite Conspiracy" - thermite being an incendiary mixture of powdered aluminium
oxide and iron oxide - Operation THERMCON employed more than 50 FBI agents and involved the infiltration of the group between
1987 and 1989 by undercover FBI agent Michael Fain, and the
recruitment of Ron Fraizer, a friend of the three, as an informant. Despite the name "Thermite Conspiracy," cutting torches were
the tool of choice for the group.

The operation culminated in the arrest of the three following an attempt to down a transmission tower in the Arizona desert
which led from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. Two
additional persons were also indicted as a result. The fourth was Ilse Apslund, a friend of the three from Prescott. The fifth,
Dave Foreman, at the time the leader of Earth First!

based in Tucson, Arizona, was not involved in the group but was nonetheless charged with
conspiracy, on the grounds that he had given a copy of the book Ecodefense inscribed
"happy monkeywrenching" and a $100 donation to undercover agent Michael Fain. [1]

The FBI claimed the group was planning similar attacks on other powerlines in Arizona, Colorado, and California. FBI testimony
during and after the trial characterized the group's future plans as targeting powerlines to or from the Central Arizona Project Aqueduct, the Rocky Flats
Plant, and the Diablo Canyon Power Plant.

Earth First! claimed the operation was intended to discredit Earth First! by linking its leaders to the conspiracy,
particularly Dave Foreman. During the course of the operation, undercover agent Michael Fain (who used the name Mike Tait) was
recorded saying "I don't really look for them to be doing a lot of hurting people... (Foreman) isn't really the guy we need to
pop -- I mean in terms of an actual perpetrator. This is the guy we need to pop to send a message. And that's all we're really
doing... Uh-oh! We don't need that on tape! Hoo boy!" [2] According to an FBI field office file released to Earth First! activists

Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney in 1996, FBI
agents provocateurs associated with THERMCON spent two years winning the trust
of the Prescott group, actively encouraging them to sabotage powerlines and attempting - unsuccessfully - to convince the group
that they should use, and even offering to buy, explosives for this purpose. FBI agents also selected the site and purchased and
transported cutting equipment prior to the sabotage attempt on 30 May, 1989, leading to accusations of entrapment. ^{[citation needed]}

Attorney Gerry Spence represented the defendants.

The four from Prescott entered into a plea bargain. Davis was sentenced to 6 years in
prison and restitution of $19,821 to the Arizona Snowbowl. Millet was sentenced to 3 years and restitution of $19,821. Baker was
sentenced to 6 months and a $5000 fine, and Apslund to 30 days and a $2000 fine. The four were sentenced in September 1991.

Dave Foreman's case was separated from the other four and sentencing was deferred until 1996, when the charges were reduced to
a single misdemeanor and he was fined $250.

References

• USA v. Mark Leslie Davis et al:
  89-CR-192-PHX


• Kiefer, Michael. "The Big Steep: The only thing slick about Arizona Snowbowl is the snow". Phoenix New Times, Feb 20,
  1997. [3]



• Zakin, Susan. Coyotes and Town Dogs: Earth First! and the Environmental Movement. University of Arizona Press, ISBN
  0-8165-2185-9.

See also

• COINTELPRO


• Earth First!

Further reading

• www.judibari.org


• Slingshot: Earth
  First! Exposes FBI Conspiracy


• The Judi Bari bombing
  revisited, by Nicholas Wilson


• Congressional
  testimony of James Jarboe of the FBI in 2002

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