Oh god, this thread from a Portland Indymedia messageboard in 2005 is so good. Such corny but compelling drama! A good example of why I think we need sophisticated, context-specific tools for internet preservation.
Jake the Snake is FBI
by Mongoose
Like many of us in Cascadia, my thoughts during the last month of 2005 turned constantly to those imprisoned for alleged Earth Liberation Front (ELF) arsons. Isolated, intimidated, ripped from everything they love, deprived of all but the minimum for survival, the question resounds: why? Why? WHY?
As the initial tumult subsides, the answer has become increasingly clear. The reason why many have been subpoenaed, six have been jailed, one of those jailed has taken his life and a community has been shaken to the core is this: Jacob Ferguson.
A man who has called himself “Jake the Snake” is working and has been working for the FBI.
The entire case against those still jailed seems to rest on the words, actions and credibility of this one man, a man we now learn has lived a double life. In a community where there is consensus distrust, even disgust for the federal government and especially its law enforcement operatives, Jake pretended he was one of us. He was and is one of them.
Let’s look at a little of what we know of Jake from Eugene. It is perhaps most relevant to note that Jake is a heroin addict and has continued using throughout 2005. He is the father of a ten year-old that he has repeatedly failed to properly provide for. The mother was forced to take away visitation rights at times. Housemates even recently have had to care for his current partner’s child while he was strung out.
While active ten years ago at Warner Creek, he is not known as a hard worker in the larger community of activists. He was less a part of the activist scene and more a part of the has-been junkie scene.
While living a life constantly outside the law, he seems to have been left largely alone by law enforcement.
According to court documents, Ferguson has been traveling around the country secretly taping private conversations, perhaps with people who thought they could trust him. The FBI has not yet revealed how long Jake has been posing this threat to everyone he knew. Jake was not the type for meetings and gatherings but we do know that Jake attended the environmental law conference (ELAW) in Eugene this year. What was the result of that fishing expedition?
We also know that Ferguson departed from past patterns and traveled to the Earth First! national gathering in the Mt. Hood National Forest this July. This was another opportunity to listen in on numerous conversations which had nothing to do with the supposed investigations. And all this time, his federal handlers could not fail to notice, if not facilitate his use of narcotics.
That might not be all the “help” he has been receiving from the feds. Days after his name was revealed in court documents and after Bill Rogers took his life, Ferguson was seen in Eugene driving around his old neighborhood in a new SUV!
How long has Jake been a federal narc? The reason this issue is critical turns on the fact that some of the alleged arsons may actually have been planned or implemented with federal law enforcement help. That could well constitute entrapment.
Right before Jeffrey “Free” Luers went on trial, 35 SUVs were burned in an action that claimed solidarity with Free but almost certainly had the opposite effect on Free’s judge and jury. Might that have been the work of Jake and his handlers? Was he working for the feds even before this?
There has been much talk of a community coming together to support those in jail and under subpoena. All of their fortunes turn on the credibility of Jacob Ferguson. This is where members of the community can walk their talk and really affect the outcome.
The attorneys and private investigators working for those in jail need to hear every Jake story out there that could help free the accused. This includes law breaking, serious drug use, strange associates at the minimum. Error should be on the side of confiding, not on silence. This in one of those moments where remaining silent could literally cost someone the rest of their life.
Empathy for Jake is not inappropriate. His addiction obviously made him vulnerable to federal predators and junkie’s often make terrible decisions. But let us save most of our hearts for the many people who Jake is trying to take down with him. They are either innocent people being manipulated by Jake and the feds or warriors for the Earth that have risked everything to wake up a nation working overtime to destroy a planet.
Jake has a guardian angle by the name of Uncle Sam. He’ll be OK. The others have concrete, forced air, a thin blanket and a prayer. If you know anything that has any chance of helping them, please come forward now. The feds want to railroad these people fast and the defense needs to know the whole story like only this community can tell it.
Courage, please. And with love for the Earth and the Resistance.
