Tre Arrow (born Michael Scarpitti in 1974) gained prominence in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in the late 1990s and early 2000s for his environmental activism, bid for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

as a Pacific Green Party candidate, and then for his arrest and later conviction for committing acts of

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

and

logging truck A logging truck or timber lorry is a large truck used to carry logs. Some have integrated flatbeds, some are discrete tractor units, and some are configured to spread a load between the tractor unit and a dollied trailer pulled behind it. Oft ...

s. He unsuccessfully sought

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and was

extradited In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, on February 29, 2008, to face 14 counts of arson and

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

. These actions were claimed as acts of protest by the

Earth Liberation Front The Earth Liberation Front (ELF), also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for Wiktionary:autonomy, autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to ...

(ELF). On June 3, 2008, Arrow pleaded guilty to 2 counts of arson and was sentenced with 78 months in prison. He was released to a halfway house in 2009.

Background

Arrow first came to public attention in July 2000 when he scaled a U.S. Forest Service building in downtown

and lived on a nine-inch ledge for eleven days, to protest the plan to log near Eagle Creek, Oregon. His protest played an important role in reversing the Forest Service's plans to log the area. Arrow ran for

in 2000 and received 15,000 votes as a Pacific Green Party candidate. In October 2001, he suffered a broken pelvis, broken ribs and a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

when he fell 60 feet from a hemlock tree where he had perched to protest a logging sale in Tillamook County.

Arson incidents

Arrow was sought by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

in connection with the April 15, 2001, arson at Ross Island Sand and Gravel in Portland. Three trucks were damaged in the amount of $200,000. The

(ELF) claimed this fire via a written communique. The U.S. Department of Justice says it considers ELF to be the worst domestic terrorism group. Another arson occurred a month later at Ray Schoppert Logging Company in Eagle Creek, Oregon, on June 1, 2001. Two logging trucks and a front loader were damaged, resulting in $50,000 worth of damage. The ELF did not claim responsibility, but the explosions were similarly created by milk jugs filled with

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

, and a fuse made from

incense Incense is an aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremonial reasons. It ...

and a pack of matches.

Arrest and legal proceedings

Jacob Sherman, a 21-year-old

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

student, was subsequently arrested by the FBI and interrogated on four separate occasions. About four months after his arrest Sherman admitted to his involvement in both arsons. In order to avoid a potential life sentence in prison, Sherman named three others who had participated in the crimes: Tre Arrow, Angela Marie Cesario and Jeremy David Rosenbloom. Cesario and Rosenbloom decided to enter

plea agreement A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include ...

s since Sherman had already implicated Arrow. All three entered guilty pleas and while Sherman named the high-profile activist Arrow as the mastermind behind the arsons, Cesario and Rosenbloom disputed this and testified that Jacob himself was the mastermind. Arrow was indicted by a federal grand jury in Oregon and charged with four

felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that ...

for this crime on October 18, 2002. He was listed on the FBI's December 2002 most-wanted list, and appeared on the '' America's Most Wanted'' television program. Arrow fled to Canada, but on March 13, 2004, he was arrested in Victoria for stealing bolt cutters and was also charged with being in Canada illegally. He was in custody in the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre near Victoria where he unsuccessfully fought extradition back to the United States. Arrow's family and supporters had expressed concern that he could not receive a fair trial in the United States due to character assassination by the media; at least two newspapers have referred to Arrow as an "eco-terrorist", and the FBI held his capture up as an example of its success in prosecuting terrorists in a 2004 report to Congress. Judges in both Canadian and American cases against him have ruled that the term "terrorist" could not be used during the proceedings against him. Arrow was sentenced August 12, 2008, in Portland Oregon federal court to 78 months in federal prison for his part in two arson attacks in 2001 by

U.S. District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...

James A. Redden. Arrow had earlier pleaded guilty, acknowledging he set fire to cement-mixing trucks at Ross Island Sand and Gravel Company in Portland on April 15, 2001, and logging trucks at Schoppert Logging Company in Eagle Creek on June 1, 2001.Tre Arrow sentenced to years in prison
'' Oregon Live'', 12 August 2008. Arrow’s three co-defendants had each completed 41-month prison terms in 2003. The Judge increased the ordinary 60-month mandatory minimum term for arson based on a finding that Arrow committed the arson attacks in an aggravated manner calculated to influence or affect the conduct of the victims by intimidation, coercion and retaliation. In June 2009, Arrow entered a halfway house in Portland, Oregon, after a year in

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...

. On Mar 6, 2012, Arrow was arrested for

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. However, no charges were filed as a result of this incident.

Candidacy for Portland mayor

On March 5, 2012, Arrow submitted a completed nominating petition for the office of

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Portland and was added to the register of candidates. On April 18, 2012, during an environmentally themed Portland mayoral debate, Arrow made a scene and was shouted down by the

crowd and asked to return to his seat. In the non-partisan primary, Arrow placed eighth out of twenty-three candidates with 916 votes, 0.68% of the votes cast.

References

External links

Tre Arrow's web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrow, Tre 1974 births American people convicted of arson American environmentalists Earth Liberation Front Living people People extradited from Canada to the United States American people imprisoned in Canada Oregon Greens Politicians from Portland, Oregon