Marie's Statement to the Court

Your Honor,
I understand the serious nature of the offenses to which I have pleadguilty. I accept responsibility for my actions. At the time, I fearedthere were dire and immediate threats to both human and non-human livesand that the health and safety of human communities, as well as theecological integrity of the Earth, were in jeopardy. I care deeply about my fellow human being and the other living creatureswith whom we share this planet. I felt responsible to take extremeaction in the hope that it would save lives and halt deadly practicesthat directly threatened living beings and contributed to the degradationof the environment. I thought that what I was doing would shine a lighton these dangerous policies so that an informed public dialogue wouldensue and policies would be changed. In all of my actions, I was present at the moment that property damagewas done or a fire was set. I believed that this way I could ensure thatno living creature would inadvertently wander into the site and beendangered. At the time, I felt that it was possible to anticipate andavoid any potential threat to life by taking precautions and by beingvigilant at each event. This was not possible, despite my efforts. In particular, the arson at MSU ended up greatly exceeding the scope ofmy intent, so much so that I almost became the first casualty in thesetypes of offenses. Even so, other than this one instance of danger to myself, I remainedblinded to the risks that others were exposed to during that action. Much later, even years later, I became aware of how other people who cameto the scene after I left were frightened and confused. I also found outthat students and employees were greatly inconvenienced and lost personalproperty, that they felt that there might be a continued threat to them. As I understand it now, firefighters entered the building and were alsoin danger from the fire and the subsequent water damage to the building. I never anticipated or intended that anyone would have been endangeredand am truly sorry that anyone’s life was put in danger. For more than twenty years, I participated in every legal avenue open tome as a private citizen to educate and persuade government officials andcorporate representatives to reconsider policies. I have alsoparticipated in civil disobedience in the style taught by Martin LutherKing, Jr. and Mahatman Gandhi, whose non-violent teachings I embraced. Given my commitment to non-violence, it was only under an extreme set ofcircumstances that I rationalized my actions and put people in danger. Ibelieved that I was taking risks to prevent a greater harm to livingbeings. I never intended to cause danger of harm to any living thing, andby that standard I failed. I want to explain that the more I learned of the consequences ofdeforestation and genetic engineering, the more desperate I felt. I amnot opposed to conducting research in the interests of expandingknowledge and bringing improvements to health and well being when it isconducted in a responsible and humane way. But genetic engineeringresearch is often conducted in open-air situations that releasecontaminated pollen into the environment with devastating effects, as inthe case of the terminator seed plants. Communities should have theright to choose or refuse the risks that come with GMO’s. What I wasmore and more aware of in my research and in my dealings with indigenousactivists’ work around the globe is that the use of GMO’s forced oncommunities by collusion between banks, companies and governments wascausing starvation, debt and environmental damage through contact withthese GMO’s. I felt so much grief for this needless suffering, theseneedless deaths. The threat posed to all of us by global warming - for which all of theworld’s forests act as a buffer against - is direct and dramatic. Theincrease in catastrophic storms that caused so much death and destructionin New Orleans and in many parts of Asia are attributable to the erraticwarming of the planet. Forests sequester carbon and cool the planet. Aswe lose them, we lose the time we need to find new and more sustainableways of fulfilling our energy needs before global climate crisis isunavoidable. But despite my despair, I have never felt entitled to cause physical harmin order to protect life. I have always taken to heart the Buddhistspiritual principle to take no action that would bring physical harm toany living being. Although there were some risks associated with myactions that were unintentional and unanticipated, I had convinced myselfthey could be eliminated. In retrospect, I see that this was notpossible, and I regret it. I acknowledge that greater harm could havehappened and that it is very fortunate that no one was physically hurt,and that there was psychological damage done. I acknowledge those risksand knowing what I know now, I would not have taken the same actions. My actions were individual acts of conscience and I take soleresponsibility for them. The property damage was intended to be symbolicand theatrical in nature, not dangerous or threatening to any individual. I hope to protect my community and the Earth, to respond in defense ofthe living systems of animals, land and water. I tried to preserve thenatural world from destruction because it is all of our home, because itshealth is necessary for all of use to live well. I have failed to bring about the changes that I sought and caused harmwhere I intended none. I am saddened and sorry for that. My hope isthat the next generation that inherits this Earth and the responsibilityfor stewardship will succeed in finding better methods of bringing aboutthe volution of our society, a transformation that will benefit all thosewho share this beautiful Earth. Though I have been wrong and misguided in my actions to defend mycommunity and this Earth from harm, I hope to be able to dedicate what’sleft of my life to service in better ways. I hope to volunteer at a burncenter in my community, as some of my past actions risked injuries ofthat nature. I have some first aid training from my work experience, aswell as training for home health care that might be helpful. I also hope to be able to contribute to community garden programs, bothworking with at-risk youth and providing food to distribution programs. These gardens have also been pressed into service to provide herbs tofree herbal palliative health care. I have had experience as a volunteerbefore with these kinds of groups and would be happy to contribute again. I want to state that I am genuinely sorry to those who have feltpersonally frightened by my actions. I was unable to see this as aconsequence of my actions before, probably as I was so overwhelmed withmy own grief and fear that I couldn’t empathize with other’s perceptions. I meant to inspire thought and compassion, not fear. I also acknowledge that my actions endangered lives and I am deeplyregretful for that. It was never my intention to cause physical harm andcertainly not serious injury. I was wrong to believe it could always beavoided. I am and will always be grateful that my actions did not resultin death or injury. But I do understand now that the risk was there. Lastly, I feel that I need to apologize for the expense and sufferingthat my actions have caused my family, especially my children. I love myfamily very much and this has been so hard on them. They have beenloving and generous in their support for me. I hope that you will take all of this into consideration as you make yourdecision, your Honor.