Suspect in ecoterror case found dead

Prescott community mourns passing of William Rodgers
by Friends of the Catalyst Thursday December 22, 2005 at 03:08 PM
info [at] catalystinfoshop.org

This is a great loss for our community. We love you, Bill.

Statement from the Friends of the Catalyst

We mourn the passing of our dear friend and community member, Bill Rodgers, who worked tirelessly for the causes of social justice and environmental sustainability. We ask that he be remembered as the gentle, kind, and compassionate person we all knew and loved here in Prescott. We remain committed to continuing the work of community building and ecological awareness, through the Catalyst Infoshop, as part of the legacy Bill helped to create. We wish our friend the peace and serenity that he strived so hard to create in this world. This is a great loss for our community. We love you, Bill.

http://www.catalystinfoshop.org
http://www.supportbill.org

Bill was also an active member of the Arizona IMC collective.
http://arizona.indymedia.org/

Arson suspect kills self in jail

staff and wire Reports

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William C. Rodgers was found dead in his jail cell.

By staff and wire reports

A bookstore owner who was charged with firebombing a wildlife lab in Olympia and named as a suspect in the arson of a University of Washington horticulture center was found dead early Thursday in a jail cell in Flagstaff, Ariz.

William C. Rodgers, 40, of Prescott, Ariz., committed suicide, according to the Coconino County Sheriff's Office. The county medical examiner determined Rodgers had suffocated after placing a plastic bag over his head while being held in a one-person cell.

Rodgers was one of six people arrested earlier this month in connection with a string of arson attacks in the Pacific Northwest. He was charged in the burning of a federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service facility outside Olympia, which caused $1.2 million in damage. Prosecutors recently named him as a suspect in the $1.5 million May 2001 arson at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture.

Rodgers had been scheduled to be transported to Seattle to face the charges.

Another suspect in arsons in Washington and at a Vail, Colo., ski resort, Chelsea Gerlach, was placed on suicide watch Thursday as a result of Rodgers' death. She is being held in Eugene, Ore.

Gerlach had asked for bail, but a magistrate denied the request after authorities said they found fake identification in her Portland apartment Wednesday.

Jailers in Flagstaff found Rodgers dead about 7 a.m. Thursday, a sheriff's spokesman said. He could have died anytime during the night. The spokesman said there had been no indication that Rodgers was depressed or intended to take his own life.

"There was no indication of any distress," Lt. Charlie Wong said. "He was completely normal."

Last week, FBI agents, in testimony and affidavits, said the government had recorded Rodgers admitting he was planning an arson. The government also claimed Rodgers had attended a meeting of Earth Liberation Front members in western Colorado where the arson of a Vail ski resort was planned.

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The federal government also claimed to have a recording of another person saying he found a manual, written by Rodgers, called "Setting Fires with Electronic Timers," in the offices of a New York environmental group, according to affidavits unearthed by the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.

Court records revealed that a search of Rodgers' home had turned up bomb-making materials and two digital photos of nude, prepubescent girls.

Barry Sheldahl, assistant U.S. attorney in Portland, said he didn't think Rodgers' death would affect other arson cases.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Seattle said the death was unfortunate.

"It was a tragedy for his family," Emily Langlie said. "And we had hoped that the justice system could move forward and bring closure to the victims of these fires."

Rodgers ran a bookstore in Prescott called the Catalyst Infoshop that friends called a combination bookstore and community meeting room.

His court-appointed lawyer, David Barrow of Flagstaff, said, "I'm deeply saddened by this. He was a beautiful man with high principles, and we're worse for his passing."

The Associated Press, Rocky Mountain News and Seattle Times staff reporter Craig Welch contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company

Are we sure that he killed himself?
Is there any independent investigation of the circunstances of his dead?

The plastic bag is a common method that the cops use during interrogations to extort informations. Guantanamo and Abu Grahib are everywhere.
Respect for Bill.

He was murdered, people. Face up to it.

Following Gary Webb's two bullet suicide, now the plastic bag suffocation of a political prisoner accused by the state of ecoterrorist vandalism. No coincidence the suicide victim was an outspoken bookstore owner who had a diverse audience and supporters of ecological wisdom of eco/health problems caused by suburban sprawl and corporate profit. Gary Webb also was an investigative journalist who had a good audience reading the Sacramento News and review, the free local paper that published his article about the military monitoring high scoring combat video game playing teenagers, indicating a long term interest in the US occupation of Iraq. This after Gary discovered and exposed the CIA importing crack cocaine and weapons into Southcentral LA. Sure, Gary became sad on occasion by the sheer negative impact of info of the stories he worked on, but he also knew that he was more important alive than dead..

My personal belief is that neither Gary Webb nor Rodger actually committed suicide willingly. In some situations it is in the government's best interest to silence certain outspoken critics and leave the official verdict of suicide up for debate in the circles of paranoid activists scrambling to cover the next issue effecting human/eco health..

luna moth

If we don't speak the truth, they will never stop.

Decapitation of "the 60's":
JFK...MLK...RFK...George Jackson...Malcolm X...Lennon

Decapitation of "the 00's":
JFK Jr....Wellstone...Sergio Vieira de Mello...Webb

My friend Woody:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050206015517/justiceforwoody.org/story/long.html

honor fallen activists by spreading the truth
love life and nurture your humanity
delegitimize the government
participate in alternative economies

The Govt. would have you think that the guy who exposed the Bush cocain bust in 78 committed suicide too, while on a book tour. I think the title of the book is Fortunate Son.

Ask Amy Goodman to cover this.

The New World Order Resistance

So, we are to believe that jails are allowing prisoners to keep plastic bags in their cells, or perhaps the Wizard of OZ sent the bag in to him so that he could get back to Kansas.

Has anyone checked the magic bag for prints? Also, who allowed this prisoner to get a plastic bag into his cell? I doubt that the government will bother checking on any of this or interviewing any of the guards on duty that night.

His next of kin should file a wrongful death lawsuit against the jail. This would be the best way to obtain this information, but even then, the government is likely to make sure that the evidence only points to a "suicide."

Lets face it, an Arsonist, unable or unwilling to facce justice for his reckless crimes that endangered lives and lead to the loss of jobs that wrecked lives, killd himself.

This man was nothing more than a lousy criminal that destroyed things for his own sick reasons. We are better off since he has chosen to end his life and save the taxpayers the expense of a trial.

Well, "Truth Teller," thank you for at least calling the crime what it actually was instead of trying to pass around the "terrorism" kool-aid

Lets see, a group of shadowy figures decides to torch and fire bomb homes, places of employment, equipment and risk the lives of hundreds of people so their political message can get out and so they can intimidate those they disagree with, you don't call that terrorism. It most certainly is, just like anti abortion people who blow up buildings, racists that burn churches or people that fly planes into buildings, it is all the same, hurting others that don't agree with you.

And for those that say the eco terroists haven't hurt anyone yet, it is just luck that no action has directly resulted in an injury or death and I would also argue that those that have lost there jobs and their lives have been ruined by these eco terrorists would argue that they do destroy lives.

So call a spade a spade, he was a terrorist just as all the other eco nuts out there that try and disrupt, destroy, and threaten legal enterprises in this country and abroad.

I don't like fire. I don't recommend it. It's stupid to equate it to terrorism, though. "Terrorism" has a meaning that many people agree upon, and the alleged actions we're talking about do not qualify.

And no, it's no accident that nobody has ever been hurt by so-called eco-arsonists. It's very deliberate. Funny how econo-arsonists (such as landlords trying to collect fire insurance money) kill people all the time without being called "terrorists."

Can "Truth Teller" have a calm and reasonable discussion about this or will he/she/it just shriek the word "terrorist" a bunch?

That doesn't make it not terrorism. Terrorism is *anything* you do to scare people into doing what you want. Whether anyone gets hurt in the process is irrelevant.

i did not know the man that died; i do know that the circumstances were unusual and warrant investigation. my heart goes out to his partner and family.

the guilt or innocence of these individuals has yet to be determined by the state. 'truth teller' should bear this in mind. whatever happens, it is far too soon to be suggesting penalties. the sort of ranting displayed can only be a result of overcompensation for illogical thought.

the destruction of property is a far cry from the taking of life (whether human or animal), cannot be equated with terrorism and should not carry penalties greater than murder or rape. or do you value your car more than your family? tell the truth.

I would love to answer but I see my posts are being removed, so much for being able to handle different opinions.

If I am not censored let me just say this, yes Arson is just like murder and rape, it is a dangerous, violent act that puts at risk many lives. These violent acts are being done to scare and influence people, just like the terrorists that attacked us on 9/11.

As far as the guy that committed suicide, you are right, innocent until proven guity, but I would take his suicide as an admission of guilt.

Finally, I would challenge who ever is deleting my comments to explain why or repost them.

Teller of Truth, you give many assumptions on a person you dont seem to know all that well, watch your words because they hurt.
This man was a friend, who struggled along with the rest of the caring world for something he put his life into. Murder, suicide, I dont know... But what I do know is that everyone will miss this man. Someone who was willing to turn his words into fire.
We dont need a reason to act as we do. It is the natural response to their dehumanization. Arson is arson, crime is crime, and I will continue to support the arsonists and continue to stress that law is not justice, and this was nothing more than a tragedy.
It's heartbreaking and one should not judge a man on his conscious choices in life.
If you'd like to talk to me about how I see crime or what I think of your arguments that are clearly based on some set of marals email me. Subject: Canadian. Or it will get tossed.
Please remember, this man was a caring soul.
Violence can be an act of love.
In autonomy and solidarity,

A Canadian Friend.

Keep it feral.

Anyone that is destroys and burns things to "protect" the environment should not receive your praise or friendship. This person destroyed lives, destroyed jobs, destroyed other peoples things and risked the lives of many in doing so. Once you start a fire you don't know how things will turn out, not to mention the secondary explosive and fire devices left at other locations which were intended to hurt the first responders. Murder or Suicide I don't care either, the many was willing to risk innocent lives and destroy legal business that people depended on, all because your friend had some extreme position about the environment, lets face it, he is a terrorist.

Anyone that is destroys and burns things to "protect" the environment should not receive your praise or friendship. This person destroyed lives, destroyed jobs, destroyed other peoples things and risked the lives of many in doing so. Once you start a fire you don't know how things will turn out, not to mention the secondary explosive and fire devices left at other locations which were intended to hurt the first responders. Murder or Suicide I don't care either, the many was willing to risk innocent lives and destroy legal business that people depended on, all because your friend had some extreme position about the environment, lets face it, he is a terrorist.

Rodgers could count on a lot of support from people who share his beliefs and see his actions as righteous. It's hard to see him committing suicide out of remorse under those circumstances. Unfortunately, according to the Seattle Times article there were some legally dubious images of "nude prepubescent girls" found on his computer by the cops. It's hard to see the activist community rallying to him on that point since it blows his noble image. Rodgers is not the first person to commit suicide after getting busted for child pornography.

I never thought about the fact that maybe this guy killed himself because of the pornographic photos they found, and not because he had assumed he was caught for the Vail fires and other arsons. . .

However, I DO think he was involved in the fires. . As do I about Gerlach. I wonder what her family thinks now - hard to accept that she may be just as guilty.

Seriously, as much as these supporters like to lionize Rodgers as such a "caring" and "compassionate" soul, participating in the spread of pornography DEFINITELY propogates a societal ill of a different sort - and definitely makes a hypocrit out of someone supposedly so passionate about stopping a societal ill - that of environmental "destruction".

To counter all those supporters and their rhetoric - I'm sure Osama Bin Laden is a "nice guy" if you happen to be residing in the cave next door to him and need some firewood. What differentiates OBL and Rodgers with the rest of us is how most of us remain "nice guys" in the face of people who's very lives disagree with our theology. Most of us don't fly planes into buildings because we disagree with the foreign policy of other countries, and most of us don't burn down buildings because we disagree with corporate expansion plans. . . Those actions display an astounding lack of maturity and conscience.

Most of us have grown up and realize those actions accomplish nothing favorable.

As to why a conformist lemming like you would even come to this site, there's only one possibility I can think of: PR weasel.

If you actually believe Rodgers was a pea in the same pod with Bin Laden, you are beneath contempt.

Compared to the crime he was trying to impede -- axe-murdering the planet -- arson is a very trivial thing.

The day will come, possibly within our lifetimes -- and after it's too late, of course -- when even gutless fucks like you will look back on Rodgers, Dave Foreman, Edward Abbey, Derrick Jensen, etc., as visionary heroes, saints, and martyrs

Don't pretend to be "standing on principle" about this, because the guy doing that was Rodgers. What you're doing is being a groveling coward and yours is the mealy-mouthed flabby morality of all cowards.

If some German heroes had taken up pitchforks, machetes, and shotguns in 1922, marched down to the beer hall in Munich and made asshole hash out of an obscure political maniac and his followers, do you actually believe they would have been "criminals?" Well of course that's what the law would have called them, but the law isn't about justice or morality, it's merely a key instrument of class tyranny.

Nobody was remotely endangered in Vail. The site was extremely isolated, construction had halted for the season and the site was absolutely deserted. You can't even claim it endangered cops and firemen because by the time the outside world had the first inkling the site was already smoldering embers.

So the feds "found" kiddy porn on his computer, huh? Wow, it would be so unlike the CoIntelPro jackboots to "find" some shit like that as a means of smearing this guy. WTF is wrong with you?! Do you know nothing?

You're not fit to clean Rodgers' toilet bowl with your tongue

"Most of us have grown up and realize those actions accomplish nothing favorable."

Out of all the ominous things going on today, the one that causes me the deepest despair is the overwhelming abundance of soulless boob-clinging kool-aid chuggers just like you. It's because of you that things just keep steadily getting worse. We The People are an 800,000,000-lb mile-high King Kong, but since your sort remains in an impenetrable TV-induced drug-enhanced trance, it doesn't matter. If the billionaires looked at us and saw an alert self-aware King Kong, poised to do what always needs doing -- ripping them limb from limb -- they'd be a hell of a lot more careful. As it is, they test the depth of our trance by swaggering up and whacking us in the eye with a 2x4, day in and day out, and sure enough we don't even twitch.

What makes you think they found them, and didn't plant them there themselves?

And never corrupt enough to plant anything.....
LOL!

common law arson is the intentional burning of the dwelling house of another. Thats the legal defin.

Terrorism is attacks against human beings for political purposes.

Sabotauge is the destruction of materials--not people.

Technically its arson used as sab, not terrorism.

As far as lives being destroyed through arson-caused job loss, haven't you ever lost a job? If you haven't, you are exceptionally lucky. I have lost many jobs, some because I was laid off due to seasonal fluctuations in workload, and others because I have a 'bad attitude' towards middle managers who expect me to be their groveling bootlicker in addition to doing my job. My life wasn't destroyed by the loss of any of those jobs. Anyone with any moxie can pick up the pieces and move on after losing a job. What really destroys lives is the pollution, extinctions, industrial diseases, and general environmental degradation, and the cheapening of everyday life, caused by these toxic industralists who see the living earth (including the working people who live here) as nothing but raw materials to be converted into commodities for the market. I don't know if Mr. Rodgers was involved in any arsons or not, or whether he committed suicide or was murdered, but I am very sad that he is gone. Rest in peace, my brother.

Suicide?. I just cant buy the suicide crap! Wake up people!

Thanks for the info, re: The New Hampshire Gazette here for Friday, February 10, 2006 @ page 11 (Vol. CCL, No. 10). Looks like the jails are going into the shoe-shine business too. (;-) reference: "John C. Fairbanks" bag, over at < http://www.google.com > finding his hotel shoe bag that came in handy for his "suicide" in not having to explain where this N.H. judge spent the $1.8 million he stole from his clients' estates; < http://www.essaysample.com/essay/002167.html > and < http://onix.com/add/written_term_papers_24714.html > Yours tgruly, Joe Haas, one of 20 founding members of VOCALS,Inc. (with 3 State Reps) Victims of a Corrupt American Legal System.