Robert Redford writes: "There's something wrong with this picture. Major financial institutions in this country brought the nation's economy to its knees yet not one person associated with the debacle is in jail. The human consequence of their actions is indescribably profound and not one person responsible for any of it went to jail. And yet the federal government prosecuted this young activist's act of civil disobedience and he now faces jail time."

Tim DeChristopher raises his fist along with those who have gathered to support him as he leaves court in Salt Lake City, Utah, 03/03/11. (photo: Ravell Call/Deseret News/AP)

The Absurd Prosecution of Bidder 70

By Robert Redford, Reader Supported News

04 March 11

n 2008 a young environmental activist named Tim DeChristopher bid on 13 parcels of land quietly put up for auction by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the waning days of the Bush Administration. This land was part of a larger offering by the BLM of federal public land in an attempt to open it up to oil and gas exploration. The majority of the land was near national parks in southern Utah.

In an effort to derail any number of oil, gas, and mining interests from getting their claws into this land and endangering some of the last great places on earth, DeChristopher risked going to jail to stop it. This afternoon he was found guilty and jail seems more of a potential reality than ever.

Part of the statement issued this afternoon by US Atty. Carlie Christensen praising the guilty verdict, alluded to DeChristopher's actions "... disrupting open public processes and causing financial harm to the government and other individuals." Really?

There's something wrong with this picture. Major financial institutions in this country brought the nation's economy to its knees yet not one person associated with the debacle is in jail. The human consequence of their actions is indescribably profound and not one person responsible for any of it went to jail. And yet the federal government prosecuted this young activist's act of civil disobedience and he now faces jail time.

Every day, oil, gas, mining and other energy and extractive industries are indiscriminately polluting our air, land and water as the new US Congress works diligently to take away the power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate their actions and protect the well-being of the nation's people. There's something wrong with this picture.

And when you consider that weeks after DeChristopher bid on his 13 parcels, a federal judge in essence agreed with him and blocked the sale of all the parcels, DeChristopher's prosecution becomes even more troubling. Add to that the fact that the Obama Administration's Dept of Interior said the overall sale was improper and pulled all the parcels from auction and DeChristopher's prosecution borders on absurd.

DeChristopher's defense team was barred from bringing either of these facts to the attention of the jury in arguing their case. There's something radically wrong with this picture.

To donate to the Tim DeChristopher legal defense fund, go to: www.bidder70.org

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+67 # Activista 2011-03-04 08:54

very corrupt system - very corrupt judges - go to any court hearing in WA - tons of people - poor - ticketed for tags, seat belts, insurance (half of the elected are insurance business) - to keep revenue to state flowing.
Fines are absurd - you can get $500 for having a rooster on the end of town. $500 is what some people live all month on.

+74 # Lingolayne 2011-03-04 09:15

Why are we allowing these Corrupt Bastards to destroy our country as we once knew it. Bush, Cheney & Halliburton continue to destroy even while they're not in office. The documentary GASLANDS says it all...I have never felt so devastated by what is going on in our Government.

-2 # paul 2011-03-15 06:28

Half of congress are democrats and our President, as much a criminal as Bush et al, is conducting the same illegal wars and the largest environmental coverup in history (Gulf oil spill and dispersant travsty) just to keep things in perspective.

+51 # motamanx 2011-03-04 09:27

Why doesn't Senator Jay Rockefeller, one-time Peace Corps exec, step in and put an end to this nonsense?

+13 # Upgeya 2011-03-04 13:41

It's not his job. It's our job.

+44 # brenda 2011-03-04 10:08

What gets me is how the Republigoons manage to get away with all their dishonest and morraly corrupt deeds. I'd really like to see all the Republigoons called into a congressional hearing to investigate their misdeeds, and also I would like to see a federal investigation into the money that they got as "contributions" and their other income as well. And while we're at it, call in the Democrats and see if they got monet y to keep their mouth shut, so as to allow the Republigoons a free pass to continue on with their covert actions.
I'm fuming mad at this current federal government.

+54 # Marcia 2011-03-04 10:41

Money. That's how. The Koch brothers own the GOP and half od the Supreme Court. Thomas, Alito and Scalia are all paid by Tea Party/Koch Industries. Americans for Prosperity is another of their Right Wing groups. Obama promised investigations into Bush and Cheney and their Regime when he ran for office but as soon as he was elected that was off the table. I'm sure he was threatened with life and limb if he pursued that investigation. Our government is as corrupt as some of those we are at war with.

+26 # Robert Flynn 2011-03-04 10:51

" I'm sure he was threatened with life and limb if he pursued that investigation. Our government is as corrupt as some of those we are at war with."
Marcia, I have thought the same thing. Why wouldn't they use that tactic on any "enemey."

+38 # Robert Flynn 2011-03-04 11:00

Koch Industries' paper products:
Vanity Fair
Quilted Northern
Angel Soft
Sparkle
Brawny
Mardi Gras
Dixi3

+13 # Helen 2011-03-04 22:56

Thank you for providing this list. I don't use any of these products, but you can be sure I never will. I'll also tell friends about it. Boycotting Koch products is the least we can do.

+78 # Ryan Langemeyer 2011-03-04 10:10

It is either revolution or nothing! We live in Alice's Wonderland now. We live in George Orwell's "1984" now. We live in "up is down", war is peace", 'hate is love". We live in an insane society. It is revolution or death. The people of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya
understand what it takes to throw off a tyrannical government. We had best follow them. Take to the streets. Shut the government down. Demand that the plutocracy leave the country. Close the War Department. Open the Peace Department. Bring ALL military people home. End this insanity.

+39 # Marcia 2011-03-04 10:43

Absolutely! That's what I have been saying for several years. I think the teachers in WI have it right. Now to get the rest of the people fired up.

+12 # Gary Ray Pierson 2011-03-05 07:17

Quoting Ryan Langemeyer:

It is either revolution or nothing! We live in Alice's Wonderland now. We live in George Orwell's "1984" now. We live in "up is down", war is peace", 'hate is love". We live in an insane society. It is revolution or death. The people of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya
understand what it takes to throw off a tyrannical government. We had best follow them. Take to the streets. Shut the government down. Demand that the plutocracy leave the country. Close the War Department. Open the Peace Department. Bring ALL military people home. End this insanity.

I salute you Ryan, Cpl. Pierson 101st Vietnam.. PEACE! DAMN IT!

+58 # Noitall 2011-03-04 10:19

You critics write as though you believe that we still live in a Republic. I'm 63 years old and I don't recall living in a Republic in my lifetime. "A Republic, Maam, if you can keep it." I don't think we kept it very long. Our percentage of voters in any given election is evidence that our citizenry have lost interest and are leaving it up to someone else to run their lives. 'Someone else' has stepped forward and getting more comfortable with the freedom. Demand reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine and we might see a turn-around. Ignorance is not bliss. Remember when it was uncool to lie?

+46 # DPM 2011-03-04 10:43

Actually, one "white collar" swindler did go to jail. Bernie Madoff got 150 years for fraud and other financial manipulations. Essentially a Ponzi scheme. See, there is some justice. Of course, he only ripped off wealthy patrons. You see, if you defraud the wealthy, the big corporate criminals, the government, you WILL go to jail. That's a crime. The rest of us, however, are fair game.
fight back! Start with boycotting some Koch products. Don't buy Sparkle, Dixie, Brawny and Northern tissue. You don't need them. Take your money out of BofA. Put it in credit unions. Those sorts of thing are "shots" that can be heard. Parade those bastards wallets around on pike poles every chance you get. Keep it up and one day we'll go after and get the people responsible for the suffering they have caused. On Wisconsin!

+41 # SFOtter 2011-03-04 11:12

Bernie Madoff went to jail because he swindled rich people who demanded justice. Us working class folks and pension holders have so little voice that our swindlers got off scott free. We do what we can & at least we vote.

+6 # RevRonaldG 2011-03-05 05:21

Quoting DPM:

Actually, one "white collar" swindler did go to jail. Bernie Madoff got 150 years for fraud and other financial manipulations. Essentially a Ponzi scheme. See, there is some justice. Of course, he only ripped off wealthy patrons. You see, if you defraud the wealthy, the big corporate criminals, the government, you WILL go to jail. That's a crime. The rest of us, however, are fair game.
fight back! Start with boycotting some Koch products. Don't buy Sparkle, Dixie, Brawny and Northern tissue. You don't need them. Take your money out of BofA. Put it in credit unions. Those sorts of thing are "shots" that can be heard. Parade those bastards wallets around on pike poles every chance you get. Keep it up and one day we'll go after and get the people responsible for the suffering they have caused. On Wisconsin!

Ah poor Bernie! He was/is the sacrificial Lamb!

+17 # Merschrod 2011-03-04 10:50

How can the judge, who railroaded the trail through out of context be censured?

Why can't the officials of the BLM who orquestrated the bidding incorrectly be tried for their crime?

Appeal is the hero's only option, but the system needs to be changed.

+31 # George Baggett 2011-03-04 10:54

Another important aspect of the information exposed by DeChristopher is the extent of the reach of oligarchy into the business of the US Government. Though it is easy to blame the Obama Administration, anyone familiar with agencies and the revolving door are aware it would take a sleuth or team of sleuths to rout out the infiltration in controlling natural resources. Look at the Gas exploration industry - having expanded so insidiously, and one should be aware the effort to assess all such activities is staggering. Add the factor of MSM without the fairness doctrine and one may think there is little hope.

+49 # BishopAndrew 2011-03-04 10:55

I am convinced that as long as the Democratic Party and its so-called leadership is guilty of moral cowardice such travesties of this magnitude will continue. How clearly this infuriatingly sad spectacle illustrates the inherent inequity of our system, how profoundly it proves that it is money that matters nothing else. The Tea Party Republicans and their henchmen would have stolen the Lord's Supper(and as I have said before they still are trying and sometimes succeeding in doing so)and sold the Passover Meal to the Devil himself as long as it proved profitable! Unless there is a revolution it is only a matter of time before the notion of progressive government will be only a faint whisper of things once tried and believed and an outlawed whisper at that. China with all its major flaws if it addresses them may be the last great hope for well being of people instead of corporations. As a bishop in the Christian community I state here and now and without reservation you cannot claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ and be a Republican and or a so called free market capitalist! Jesus is a verb not a noun and that verb is Love and Love cannot be packaged and hyped, or used to destroy the earth and or sold like stocks and bonds, nor does it devalue the worker,the elderly or the sick or the student, nor can it serve mammon which is the Republican Religion!

+5 # RevRonaldG 2011-03-05 05:28

Quoting BishopAndrew:

China with all its major flaws if it addresses them may be the last great hope for well being of people instead of corporations. As a bishop in the Christian community I state here and now and without reservation you cannot claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ and be a Republican and or a so called free market capitalist! Jesus is a verb not a noun and that verb is Love and Love cannot be packaged and hyped, or used to destroy the earth and or sold like stocks and bonds, nor does it devalue the worker,the elderly or the sick or the student, nor can it serve mammon which is the Republican Religion!

AMEN!

+26 # genierae 2011-03-04 11:33

I called the White House to urge Obama to pardon this good man. The comment number is: 1-202-456-1111

This is an act of heroism and he deserves a medal of honor from the American people. His friends would not help him do what he did, and so he went in alone. We all must be prepared to do these kinds of things if we want to take our country back. I'm sure that Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi were with him in spirit, they know those of their own family.

+20 # Betty Lou Kishler 2011-03-04 11:40

I first thought of moving out of the United States but corporations and banks, etc. are destroying the earth and there is nowhere to go.

+11 # Gringaryan 2011-03-04 15:52

Quoting Betty Lou Kishler:

I first thought of moving out of the United States but corporations and banks, etc. are destroying the earth and there is nowhere to go.

I left when the US invaded Iraq the first time, and I am very happy I did... but I still care albeit from a distance.

+5 # RevRonaldG 2011-03-05 05:31

Quoting Gringaryan:

Quoting Betty Lou Kishler:
I first thought of moving out of the United States but corporations and banks, etc. are destroying the earth and there is nowhere to go.

I left when the US invaded Iraq the first time, and I am very happy I did... but I still care albeit from a distance.

And in what country do you live now? Is it any better off there? I would think the Bankers and Corporations have world control not merely USA control??

+6 # Gringaryan 2011-03-05 08:08

I live with no mortgage and no car payments.. I try to buy groceries in the mercado and use local suppliers.. That said, you are right, I have seen the infestation of the bankers and corporations. It is like a creeping VIRUS! Colonial Central Mexico is where I live. If folks knew how beautiful it was here many more of you would consider it!

+5 # Ramona Rhoades 2011-03-04 21:51

We did move out of the United States. you are right, it is bad every where. However, it is easier to watch what is happening to the US from afar that from close up. Still painful, but less devastating.

+8 # carp 2011-03-04 11:48

The supporters of Tim should have ponied up the purchase price of the bids and paid it! The leases were deemed illegal by a federal judge. Salazar pulled the leases altogether for review and ultimately canceled the out of compliance bids anyway. The supporters would have gotten their money back and even if they hadn't they could have put their money where their heart is. I support Tim and I do contribute to his defense fund but his courageous act of civil disobediance was greeted by a circus act. I suppose Redford will now make a documentary about it.
rather than principled support.

+20 # steve robertson 2011-03-04 12:12

I suppose Redford will now make a documentary about it.
rather than principled support.

Making a documentary is principled support. If there is one big problem in this country it is that people don't really know what is going on. Education is crucial. The dumming down of our nation has been very effective...how else could someone like George Bush come close to getting elected. Only a severely uneducated or corrupt person could cast a vote for that guy.

+7 # RevRonaldG 2011-03-05 05:37

Quoting steve robertson:

I suppose Redford will now make a documentary about it.
rather than principled support.

Making a documentary is principled support. If there is one big problem in this country it is that people don't really know what is going on. Education is crucial. The dumming down of our nation has been very effective...how else could someone like George Bush come close to getting elected. Only a severely uneducated or corrupt person could cast a vote for that guy.

Not true! My Father is a PhD and very well educated...but Republican thus, votes for the party. How he was "brought up". How we are taught at a young age shapes our thinking for the rest of our lives. Dr. Massey stated that unless we have a S.E.E. (Significant Emotional Event) we cannot change patterns of behavior! None have happened to date for him or the USA!

+1 # Not Confused 2011-03-05 00:21

They tried but they didn't raise enough in time.

+38 # genierae 2011-03-04 11:53

Mr. Dechristopher was on Democracy Now today and he said that he had managed to raise the money to purchase those parcels that he bid on, but the government wouldn't accept it. They also wouldn't allow this fact to be revealed during trial, along with the fact that the sale was improper and therefore illegal. Only the rich get fair trials in this country.

The AARP did a puff piece interview with W last month, they didn't ask him one hard question, and they did everything they could to make him look good. It was a sickening reminder of how corrupt this society really is. I canceled my membership.

+8 # carp 2011-03-04 12:56

Quoting genierae:

Mr. Dechristopher was on Democracy Now today and he said that he had managed to raise the money to purchase those parcels that he bid on, but the government wouldn't accept it. They also wouldn't allow this fact to be revealed during trial, along with the fact that the sale was improper and therefore illegal. Only the rich get fair trials in this country.

The AARP did a puff piece interview with W last month, they didn't ask him one hard question, and they did everything they could to make him look good. It was a sickening reminder of how corrupt this society really is. I canceled my membership.

Thank you for the information. I was unaware of this.

+24 # Pancho 2011-03-04 11:59

What's the difference between prosecuting someone for bidding on a lease that was blocked and withdrawn, and prosecuting someone for murder a person who was already dead?

If the land was withdrawn after the lease sale, I'm assuming the government would have been liable for costs to cancel the sale, so the bidder actually may have saved the taxpayer money.

Eric Holder is perhaps the worst disappointment of all Obama's nominees.

+31 # steve robertson 2011-03-04 12:08

Ryan you have got it right. Our revolution should have started in 2000 when the Supreme Court decided that the votes didn't need to me counted and the idiot from Texas was placed in office. That's when the revolution should have begun but we were all just a little too comfortable to take to the streets. Look what we got 8 yrs of total criminal insanity for which we and the world will be paying for many years to come, not to mention the massive destruction of the environment that accompanied those 8 yrs of insanity. I just called the White House 1 202 456 1111 to ask that Tim DeChristopher be pardoned and i encourage you all to do the same.

+27 # Eileen 2011-03-04 12:30

This reminds me of a small artisan beef packer in Kansas who was forced out of business because he tested his beef for everything to assure it's safety and goodness, but when the big packers feared they would have to do the same, the small business was forced out. Had to protect the bastards who don't care, don't you know. Unbelieveable!

+23 # andrewprokopis 2011-03-04 12:31

its as if the enemy of the federal government is the people of the united states and the ones the federal government works for and protect is big business.

+14 # DPM 2011-03-04 14:10

I called 1-202-456-1111 as well. I encourage everyone that has made a comment on this article to do the same. Please.

+10 # DaveM 2011-03-04 18:06

I may be missing something here, but how does placing a bid in a public auction violate the law? Or does this gentleman's sin lie in not doing things "the way they've always been done"?

+7 # Bruce Roberts 2011-03-04 19:03

Robert, you've skipped over something here. How does bidding on property for sale become a crime? I'm probably on your side here, but I don't understand.

+7 # Old Broad 2011-03-05 14:15

the problem was that he had no intention of paying for his bids. HOWEVER, had the BLM followed required protocol for these auctions, he would have been required to post a bond, show ID, etc. etc., before he was allowed to bid. As it was, he just walked in and started bidding. unheard of in these sales, but true in this one! My co-worker and I (we work for an enviro group in CO) had planned to attend and bid ourselves, having seen that none of the usual protocols were being followed. Alas, a blizzard that day prevented our trip to Salt Lake City, or we'd probably be going to jail too! Darn!

+2 # Gary Ray Pierson 2011-03-05 07:14

No offense Mr. Redford, but a man such as yourself who commands $30,000 a speech, like you did here at the University of Arkansas for a speech about environmental affairs.. Nice jet you had too... But it seems to me, you could actually help this young man.... Believe it or not, some of us don't have private jets.. Really man.. I'd sell mine just to help... Sell yours.. I know your not the biggest guy in town but you sure could be without shoe lift insoles even... Man up dude... Put your cash where your mouth is... You do a little for the Earth true,but you can do so much more, like help RSN news and Tim..... Cpl. Pierson, 101st Vietnam...

+2 # Gary Ray Pierson 2011-03-05 15:18

negative, you must like Redford. I do to, but he's just making money talking about the environment and such.. How much has he spent to help? How much have you? Down here in the Natural State, we fight all the time, the electric companies, all the power companies that want to use a form of Agent Orange to control weeds around miles of wire.. Now it's the oil companies and the Earthquakes they've been causing and it is them and the coal powered plant down in Texarkana meant mostly for Texas. So, before you shoot from the hip again. Make sure who your shooting at doesn't know shit, as you apparently seem to.... But I still like Redford, just hate people with millions and billions that just charge to talk and talk and talk and watch the wallet get bigger... I welcome your negativity... It goes around ya know? grp

+5 # josé wellington 2011-03-05 08:16

In France, during "Vichy Repúblic's", when german forces occupy french territory, after some "terrorist" act of resistance groups, police used to arrest 'usual suspects' and sent them to trials, in a mimickin law procedures, to sentence them to death.
Those trials turned to be common during II World War France's occupation.
Tim DeChristopher seems to be an 'usual suspect'...

0 # Jonathan Inskeep 2011-03-15 06:42

Yes! Both of my parents, now dead, were in the army during World War II. They met in London just before D-Day. My father left first, coming across land. By the time he reached Paris, my mother had flown in and was already there, arriving just as the Nazis left Paris. As a very young child (I have numerous memories of it) I was in Germany (Heidelberg). I remember my mother talking in disgust about the Vichy government.

Support Tim DeChristopher!

I also agree with the comments above about Robert Redford. Either sell your jet, or better yet, auction it off and give the proceeds to the defense fund.

If we don't hang together, we will all hang separately, as they said during the first American revolution. Let's get on with the second one.

Jonathan Inskeep
Crofton, Maryland
USA

jonathaninskeep@mac.com

+5 # disgusted American 2011-03-05 16:42

Asked by a commenter above:

Why doesn't Senator Jay Rockefeller, one-time Peace Corps exec, step in and put an end to this nonsense?

Probably because Jay Rockefeller is one among many who are beholden to their money masters.

Look into the history of this family and read behind the do-gooder words.

There is also the Rockefeller Foundation - one of many ways to avoid paying taxes.

Not saying Jay doesn't pay his taxes b/c I don't know if he does or doesn't, but I've read that foundations and off shore accounts are very popular among the ruling class, the wealthy elite and corporations.

This was substantiated by the Swiss banker at a bank in the Cayman Islands who not long ago released info and names and then turned himself into Swiss authorities for arrest. A brave whistleblower among several. I'd love to see the list. He stated politicians were included.

+4 # watchingthecircus 2011-03-06 13:31

And yet we continue to point out the corruption of the governments in the rest of the world. Perhaps what we need is a mirror.

+4 # Amentha Dymally 2011-03-06 17:55

Look out now, folks.....looks like Madame LaFarge is knitting away and preparing to sit at the foot of the guillotime (symbolic for addressing the People's cries for Fairness and Democracy, like they taught us in school, many, many years ago.)

+2 # Ken Hall 2011-03-09 02:34

The one US freedom that doesn't seem to be under attack is the "Right to Profit From One's Activities, No Matter How it Sickens and Kills the Populace Or Pollutes and Destroys the Environment". This man stood up to the "free market" machine, which is constituted a mortal crime by some.

+1 # Diane Johnson 2011-03-23 12:31

brave whistleblowers unite!!!! I was one, but had to leave the country as a result. I exposed the fraud medical atrocities and deaths caused by the insurance cartel in workers comp cases....Mexico sucks but I can live on my meager income here. iris

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