Tim DeChristopher

 

@Mirela Monte

You may not know Tim, he is an environmentalist and his 'civil disobedience' is being compared to Rosa Parks...He took on an oil giant and ended up being charged with violating the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act and making false statements! Please take a moment to read his statement to the judge after he was sentenced to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine: "I know Mr. Huber [Federal prosecutor] disagrees with me on this. He wrote that 'The rule of law is the bedrock of our civilized society, not acts of ‘civil disobedience’ committed in the name of the cause of the day'. That’s an especially ironic statement when he is representing the United States of America, a place where the rule of law was created through acts of civil disobedience. Since those bedrock acts of civil disobedience by our founding fathers, the rule of law in this country has continued to grow closer to our shared higher moral code through the civil disobedience that drew attention to legalized injustice." The U.S. Attorney’s office issued a memorandum addressing DeChristopher’s case that stated, “To be sure, a federal prison term here will deter others from entering a path of criminal behavior.” DeChristopher responded to this statement during his court address: "The certainty of this statement not only ignores the history of political prisoners, it ignores the severity of the present situation. Those who are inspired to follow my actions are those who understand that we are on a path toward catastrophic consequences of climate change. They know their future, and the future of their loved ones, is on the line. And they know we are running out of time to turn things around. The closer we get to that point where it’s too late, the less people have to lose by fighting back. The power of the Justice Department is based on its ability to take things away from people. The more that people feel that they have nothing to lose, the more that power begins to shrivel. The people who are committed to fighting for a livable future will not be discouraged or intimidated by anything that happens here today. And neither will I. I will continue to confront the system that threatens our future. Given the destruction of our democratic institutions that once gave citizens access to power, my future will likely involve civil disobedience. Nothing that happens here today will change that. I don’t mean that in any sort of disrespectful way at all, but you don’t have that authority. You have authority over my life, but not my principles. Those are mine alone.” ~Kathy Looney Tim DeChristopher Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/TimDeChristoph​er I Do Not Want Mercy, I Want You To Join Me: http://bit.ly/JoinTim Peaceful Uprising (Tim's group): http://www.peacefuluprising.or​g/ "Do you think maybe we could get through to them if we all wrote in Tim DeChristopher on the next ballot?" ~Crystal Holsinger-Laundry