Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist International Conspiracy (EMETIC)

Summary: The Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist International Conspiracy (EMETIC) was a small organization that formed part of a wider "eco terrorism" movement in the late 1980s. Two EMETIC members were arrested after an FBI undercover investigation. Two pleaded guilty of trying to destroy power lines as part of a movement to shut down nuclear power plants; two other members pleaded guilty to conspiracy and were given light sentences. The group was also thought to be responsible for sabotaging a winter sports facility near Flagstaff, AZ. After the four were arrested, the group disappeared.

Territory: Arizona.

Religious affiliation or political orientation: Environmental protection ("eco-terrorism").

Founded: 1986

Goals:

• Thwarting development of undeveloped lands in Western U.S.
• Destruction of nuclear power plants.

Alliances: Drew support from Earth First!

Last known status: Four members were indicted in federal court in 1989 and eventually pleaded guilty to a variety of charges; they were imprisoned and fined. The group apparently ceased to exist.

The short-lived Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist International Conspiracy (whose acronym, EMETIC, also refers to compounds used to induce vomiting) was a small group, thought to number less than half a dozen, that in the late 1980s threatened to blow up power lines and disable ski lifts in order to prevent what its members regarded as environmentally destructive practices.

The group named itself after Evan Mecham, a controversial one-time Pontiac car dealer who became an ultra-conservative governor of Arizona best known for refusing to make Martin Luther King's birthday a paid holiday for state workers. Mecham was forced from office after 13 months in office on charges of obstruction of justice.

EMETIC first emerged in 1987 after sabotaging equipment at the Fairfield Snow Bowl winter sports recreation area near Flagstaff, AZ. Later, the group was accused of conspiring to interrupt power transmission lines serving a nuclear generating station. As a result of an FBI undercover investigation, the plot was thwarted and four members of EMETIC were arrested in 1989. They were also accused of planning attacks on four nuclear-powered electric generating plants in Arizona (2), California, and Colorado.

Those charged were Ilse Asplund, Marc Andre Baker, Mark L. Davis, and Margaret K. Millet. A fifth person, Earth First! founder David Foreman, was also accused of conspiring to support the others by donating $100 to the group from funds of Earth First!

Two years later, Asplund pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, five years probation, and fined $2,000. Baker also pleaded guilty to conspiracy; he was sentenced to six months in jail, five years probation, and fined $5,000.

Millet pleaded guilty to attempting to destroy an electrical transmission line used in interstate commerce; she was sentenced to three years in jail and ordered to pay $19,821 in restitution. Davis pleaded guilty to the same charge; he was ordered to six years in prison and also ordered to pay $19,821 in restitution.

Foreman, who apparently acted at a distance, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, but sentencing was delayed for five years, after which time the charges were reduced to a misdemeanor and Foreman was fined $250.

After the court proceedings, nothing more was heard of the Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist International Conspiracy. It had been one of a series of small groups that sprang up, mostly in the western United States, dedicated to carrying out acts of vandalism, arson, sabotage, and property destruction in order to protect the natural environment, animals, and wildlife. Most such groups apparently comprised only a handful of individuals who were part of an informal network that claimed responsibility for their acts through spokesmen to whom they had no direct ties.

Bibliography

"Ecoterrorism." Background Information Summary. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=19761436&site=isc-live