Canadian militant arrested on immigration charge

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/051215/w121586.html

Cdn militant arrested on immigration charge during U.S. eco-terrorism probe
20:48:27 EST Dec 15, 2005
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Canadian animal-rights militant convicted twice in his home country of sabotage in the 1990s was indicted on immigration charges here as part of a federal eco-terrorism investigation that has resulted in the arrest of six Americans.

Darren Thurston, 35, was taken into custody last week along with Chelsea Gerlach, who is one of the half-dozen suspects arrested in five states on charges of carrying out arson attacks and other crimes in the Pacific Northwest from 1998 through 2001.

Thurston was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on a charge of possessing two phony documents: a green card and a Social Security card bearing the name Kevin Gregory Barske.

Indictments against the six Americans were announced a week earlier.

U.S. officials refused to discuss the connection between Thurston and the six others. In a court hearing in Eugene on Tuesday, federal defender Craig Weinerman referred to Thurston as Gerlach's boyfriend, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall confirmed it.

Thurston is well known to law-enforcement authorities in Canada.

A Canadian court document from 1994 identifies him as a "member and leader of the Animal Liberation Front," a radical group that along with the Earth Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for dozens of crimes in the United States and Canada.

He was convicted of setting fire to trucks belonging to a fish company in 1991 in Edmonton, according to news accounts.

Thurston and another man, David Barbarash, were convicted of breaking into and trashing a research lab at the University of Alberta in 1992 and freeing 29 cats, a crime that got Thurston two years in jail, according to news reports.

In 1998, Canadian officials charged the two with mailing letters containing razors to guide outfitters and people in the fur industry. Those charges were dropped after prosecutors said they could not comply with a request for information regarding intelligence gathering.

Thurston is the latest Canadian link that has been made with the six Americans arrested last week on eco-terrorism charges: two in Oregon, two in Arizona, one in Virginia and the last in New York City.

The suspect arrested in New York City, Daniel McGowan, was in British Columbia in 2001, according to testimony presented at McGowan's bail hearing last week.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer has characterized the trip as hiding out after arson attacks. But McGowan's sister, Lisa McGowan, characterized the trip as a visit to friends outside Vancouver, B.C. He crossed the border using his own passport and his family knew where he was, she said.

Indictments against the six arrested Americans charge them with carrying out four attacks in Oregon and two in Washington state. The Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front took responsibility for most of the crimes.

Gerlach, of Portland, was indicted on a charge of helping two others topple a Bonneville Power Administration high-tension line 40 kilometres east of Bend in 1999.

A federal prosecutor said she is a suspect in several other crimes, including the 1998 firebombing of a ski resort in Vail, Colo. and a multimillion-dollar arson at the University of Washington's urban horticulture school in 2001.

Gerlach has pleaded innocent and her lawyer says the evidence against her is meagre.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/051216/w121678.html

Canadian animal rights militant pleads not guilty to U.S. immigration charge
18:19:22 EST Dec 16, 2005
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Canadian animal-rights militant pleaded not guilty today in U.S. federal court to charges of possessing phoney identification documents.

Darren Thurston, 35, was arrested last week along with Chelsea Gerlach, who is one of a half-dozen suspects arrested in five U.S. states on charges of carrying out arson attacks and other crimes in the Pacific Northwest from 1998 through 2001.

Thurston was indicted on a charge of possessing two phoney documents - a green card, which allows permanent residence in the United States, and a Social Security card both bearing the name Kevin Gregory Barske.

Thurston asked for a jury trial.

Judge Donald Ashmanaskas set a trial date for Feb. 14 and ordered Thurston held as a flight risk.

Thurston was convicted of setting fire to trucks belonging to a fish company in 1991 in Edmonton, news reports said.

Thurston and another man were convicted of breaking into and trashing a research lab at the University of Alberta in 1992 and freeing 29 cats, a crime that resulted in Thurston being sentenced to two years in jail, news reports said.