Tim DeChristopher, the day before prosecution:
DeChistopher previously, on going to prison:
http://vimeo.com/26919480
Activists responding to the sentence:
The buzz around the green and especially green activist blogoshere over the past 24 hours or so has been the sentencing of climate change and environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, whose actions we’ve covered in detail before here on Planetsave (click the link on his name to read more if you missed those stories). Of course, anyone with any sense of justice is outraged by the 2-year prison sentence DeChrsitopher has received. Will Potter of Green is the New Red has noted that he is getting more time than people who burned churches and threatened black leaders. The fact that he is going to prison for two years for stopping something that was illegal itself is quite insane. There are actually many insane things about this story that I could delve into, but I want to focus on something else….
The decision to imprison DeChristopher for such a long time was, without a doubt, partially aimed at scaring activists from doing any similar or even not-so-similar actions. That goal has been stated outright repeatedly.
Activists around the world, and DeChristopher especially, are saying that won’t silence us and will only trigger more and stronger action. The overall message and hope is that his 2-year sacrifice (which you really have to honor him for being willing to take) is going to stimulate more change and more success than would have occurred otherwise. My question is: will it, really?
It’s easy for people to get up in arms at the news and say it will, but it’s going to be pretty darn hard to get people off their asses and doing anything comparable to what DeChristopher was willing to do. Online petitions won’t do it. Blogs like this one won’t do it. We need all this. But even more so, we need people getting in the streets and truly, sincerely, strongly challenging the power structures that destroy our air, water, and climate so that a handful of super rich people can get even richer, so that a handful of the world’s “elite” bloodsuckers can get a little more blood from the poor and less influential to power their jets and multi-million-dollar villas.
The question this sentence raises is: are we really going to stand up and fight for what DeChristopher was fighting for, more strongly than he would have?
I hope so.
More stories about the recent 2-year prison sentence announcement and aftermath:
- Tim DeChristopher Is Going to Jail, Now It’s Our Turn
- Tim DeChristopher Sentenced To Two Years In Prison
- Tim DeChristopher, A New Hero (by Greenpeace Executive Director)
- Why Liberals Should Be Outraged by the Tim DeChristopher Sentence
- Tim DeChristopher Supporters Protest In Favor Of Utah Environmental Activist
- Tim DeChristopher? They’re Jailing the White Hats
- Tim DeChristopher supporters issue oil protest ‘call to action’
- Tim DeChristopher’s Trial Wasn’t About Fraud – It Was About Preserving Power
More on Planetsave previously:
- Tim DeChristopher & Reverend Billy Together {VIDEO}
- A special thanks to Tim DeChristopher
- Power Shift 2011 {Videos — Gore, McKibben, DeChristopher}
- Tim DeChristopher’s Speech Following Guilty Verdict {VIDEO}
- Tim DeChristopher found guilty, faces 10 years
- Teacher & Bus Driver Inspired by DeChristopher Fired
- Time to Support Tim DeChristopher
Front Page Image via Climate Denial Crock of the Week