Four Year Anniversary of the Imprisonment of Activist Jeffrey "Free" Luers
Marked by Solidarity Events Around the Country

On June 12, an International Day of Solidarity & Action with political prisoner Jeffrey "Free" Luers was held, with events in over 20 cities worldwide. Events ranged from large protests to quiet film screenings. Supporters in Moscow wrote a giant message of solidarity on the side of the US Embassy, while those in Eugene, Oregon held a prisoner support concert and speakout. The common tie between all the events was to show support for Free’s case and appeal. In June 2001, Free was sentenced to 22 years and 8 months in prison for burning three Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV's) at a large dealership in Eugene, Oregon. A long time non-violent forest defense activist, he and a friend intended the action to make a statement about global warming and the true cost of SUV’s to the environment. Both activists had taken measures to ensure no one would be injured as a result of the action, and they had scouted the location for months beforehand. At trial an arson specialist testified that there was no threat to people based on the size of the fire and its distance from any fuel source. The trial was marked by accusations of police misconduct and an appeal of the case and sentence has been filed and is awaiting hearing in court. The extremely unusual sentence of 22+ years without eligibility for parole has led many to the conclusion that Free’s prosecution, trial, and sentencing were meant to send a broader message to social and environmental movements around the country that attacks against business and its interests will be met with the full force of state power.

The below statement was released by Jeffrey before the anniversary.

Generally, I strive to keep these little writings of mine impersonal. This time, I’m going to do the opposite. In two weeks, I’ll have been in prison 4 years. It is not a big number but the closer it gets, the longer it feels. Despite my ability to always keep my head high and to remain strong and determined, I feel the years taking a toll on me. I’m having a really hard time. This is difficult for me to say. It is hard for me to acknowledge. I can’t share feelings anymore. I can’t share how bad my heart hurts at watching the sun set over a wall. I keep secrets from my best friend because I no longer know how to share them or because I simply cannot bring myself to, I let things go unsaid. Really, when I ain’t going anywhere for 18 years, what is the point in saying them? It usually makes things harder anyway.

The other day, I explained to my mom why she should not have hope for my release on appeal or a shorter sentence or anything. I explained that 99% of all appeals are denied. She cried and told me all she wants is for me to get out before her, my dad and oma (my 94 year old grandma) die. You want to know what I said? I said, I can’t have your hope on my conscience.

Most nights and days for that matter, I sit with a photo album looking at pictures of people I love. In my mind and often in my heart, I tell them things that I’ll never tell them in real life. I share dreams that I know can’t come true. I tell them that I no longer have any hope for my own life.

I am not a martyr and I am not a hero. I don’t fit some perfect archetype and I can’t live up to any ideal of what so many people think I am. I’m just a man who loves without being able to say the words and who cries without being able to shed tears. I chose this life. I chose the possibility of prison. I chose to forsake my personal life for that which I believed in. It was not out of any altruistic or self-sacrificing desire. I chose this life because I don’t think I could live with myself if I did not.

I’ll never know if in the end I could have or would have regretted not doing more. I also know that because of my choices, I’m missing out on experiencing true love. I’m missing that freight train ride across Canada and I’m missing that little piece of land out in the country where I could grow my food, hunt, fish and live in peace for the rest of my days as mother nature intended.

I’m not sure I’ll ever know if I made the right choice or if it was worth it. I don’t have any regrets about my actions, not my choices for that matter. I can live with them but sometimes especially late at night, when I’m looking at a picture of a smiling face, they can be incredibly hard to bear.

This is my lot in life as I await my 43rd birthday. It will be my last birthday in jail. After, if we still have a world, I can walk out into it no longer understanding it no longer having the dreams I have now. Perhaps along, hopefully with a friend, I can start all over trying to find a place in a life I’ve forgotten how to live. When I think about the future, I think about the year 2022.

Jeffrey "Free" Luers. (Photo courtesy
of www.freefreenow.org)

Information about Free’s case can be found at www.freefreenow.org. You can write to him at: Jeffrey Luers, #13797671, OSP, 2605 State Street, Salem, OR 97310

Anarchist Black Cross www.anarchistblackcross.org/
Anarchist Black Cross Network www.abcf.net/
Earth Liberation Prisoners www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk/
Prison Activist Resource Center www.prisonactivist.org/upport
Indigenous Prison Pen-Pals and Support www.worldwidefriends.org/
Aid to Inmate Mothers www.inmatemoms.org/
Chicano Mexicano Prison Project http://burn.ucsd.edu/~udb/cmpp/index.html
Campaign to Promote Equitable Phone Charges www.curenational.org/~etc/
Books Not Bars www.booksnotbars.org/
Homes Not Jails www.homesnotjails.org/
Critical Resistance www.criticalresistance.org/