Two photos of Jeffrey Luers. The one on the left is as he looked before his conviction, the one on the right five years after his conviction. It looks as if prison did him some good.
Shortly after midnight on June 16, 2000, Jeffrey "Free" Luers and Craig "Critter" Marshall torched 3 SUV's. The two arsonists set gallon milk jugs full of Coleman fuel under pickups at a Chevy dealership in Eugene and lit them with Bic lighters. Approximately 30 minutes after the fire was lit and extinguished, 3 undercover agents who had been following them took Luers and Marshall into custody, one of them was a member of an anti-domestic terrorist unit. The two were arrested on multiple charges. Luers refused to take a deal.
Did Jeffrey "Free" Luers and Craig "Critter" Marshall really commit this crime? Were they wrongfully convicted?
Jeffrey Luers was represented by Ken Morrow at his first trial. On 20 November 2000, Ken Morrow suffered a fatal heart attack. On 31 January 2001, Judge Lyle Velure ruled to allow Brian Barnes, Craig Marshall's attorney, to continue to represent Jeff "Free" Luers. He was subsequently sentenced to 22 years and 8 months without the possibility of parole.
Lauren Regan and her legal assistant, Misha Dunlap from the Civil Liberties Defense Center have both assisted Jeffrey Luers on various legal matters over the years such as mail censorship by the Oregon Department of Corrections. As of July 2006, Lauren Regan is currently the attorney of record for Jeffrey Luers.
Civil Liberties Defense Center
Lauren Regan, AAL, Executive Director
259 E 5th Ave
Suite 300 A
Eugene, OR 97401
Tel: (541) 687-9180
FAX: (541) 686-2137
E-mail: info@cldc.org
Perhaps you should have gotten a better lawyer. It does not sound like you got your money's worth... then again; maybe you did get your money's worth.
At his sentencing hearing on 11 June 2001, Jeffrey Luers read the following statement:
"I want to make clear why I set a fire at Romania Chevrolet. I'm not going to offer excuses. I want this opportunity to explain my actions so that they are not misunderstood or misinterpreted."
From that admission, it seems they really did commit this crime!
"I didn't do this for anarchy or because I'm anti-government. And I didn't do this because I enjoy property destruction. I don't."
"I did this because I'm frustrated that we are doing irreversible damage to our planet -- our home. It is not an exaggeration to say that right now we are experiencing a period of extinction equal to that of the dinosaurs. Forty thousand species are going extinct each year. Yet we continue to pollute and exploit the natural world."
"I'm not going to justify my actions. I can't do that anymore than one can justify the destruction of the environment for profit. They are both wrong."
You cannot justify your actions because your actions were selfish and illegal. The fact is Jeffrey Luers does not consider his actions to be Arson at all, but rather nothing more than criminal mischief.
"I take responsibility for what I've done. You can judge my actions, but you can't judge my heart. It cannot be said that I am unfeeling and uncaring. My heart is filled with love and compassion. I fight to protect life -- all life, not to take it."
"I took every precaution to insure that no one would be injured by this fire. If I thought for any reason that anyone -- be it Mr. Kelly (the night watchman), or any responding firefighter or police officers would be injured, I would never have set this fire. It was not my intention to hurt anyone or place anyone at risk."
Are you really concerned with the well being of others? Craig Rosebraugh has already implied that these terrorist actions might have to kill some people to really be effective.
"I'm not going to ask the court to grant me leniency. All that I ask is that you believe the sincerity of my words -- that you believe that my actions, whether or not you consider them to be misguided, stem from the love I have in my heart."
Does that mean that you are not going to destroy the private property of others? How long will it be before you get back to your terrorist activities?
To sum this up, according to his fellow domestic terrorists of the radical environmental mindset, Jeffrey Luers sets fire to stuff he does not own, but he is not an arsonist nor a criminal - he is a political prisoner. This is the prevailing attitude they hold that they are somehow "entitled" to do whatever they want to do, break any law they choose, and cause harm to anyone, without being judged as criminals. Only their victims should be judged as criminals - you know, blame the victims.
If anyone cares to write to Jeffrey "Free" Luers, here is his address.
Jeffrey "Free" Luers #13797671
Oregon State Prison
2605 State Street
Salem, OR 97310
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UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
Jeffrey "Free" Luer and Craig Marshall
Update January 7, 2005
This is what Jeffrey "Free" Luer had to say about the release of Craig "Critter" Marshall
"Yesterday, on January 6th, 2005, Craig "Critter" Marshall, my co-defendant walked out of prison after serving 4½ years. I can only imagine what that felt like. Back in the day Critter was one of my closest friends, and while many are aware that he and I have had a falling out, I am truly glad his time is done and he has gone home."
"Now that Critter is out I can't help but wonder why I am still here. We were arrested at the same time, charged with the same offenses. Up until the very end he and I refused to cooperate with the state. Yet, the state in Critter's case decided that the exact same fire was only "Conspiracy to Commit Arson" and "Possession of Destructive Devices". I've half a dozen theories as to why things played out the way they did. The one fact I know is not once did the state offer to treat my case as Critter's. I'm doing 17 years more for the same actions and same evidence. 22 years for actions that hurt no one and caused less than $50K in damages. Critter is home now where he belongs."
Early in 2007, an Oregon appeals court upheld Jeffrey Luers' convictions but ruled he'd been sentenced incorrectly. It reduced his prison sentence from the 22 years, eight months to 11 to 13 years.
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UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
After serving 9.5 years, Luers was released from prison on 16 December 2009 so now he is out to continue his career as a destructive Animal Rights Activist. It is clear he is unremorseful about the crimes he committed that landed him in prison.
After being released, he was interviewed by DemocracyNow.org. This interview just proves that Luers still does not care about anyone but his own selfish beliefs.
"I'm definitely going to continue with my environmental and social justice activism. It's a little too early for me to be deciding what form that's going to come in at this point. Personally, right now I'm looking forward to going back to school and just re-experiencing life again before I decide to get heavily involved in activism."
It is easy to understand what he means. He will be getting involved with destroying the property of others. This might be actively or passively. If he does not commit the destruction himself, he will encourage others to break the law and risk going to prison. As an "Activist", he will be encouraging others to involve themselves in terrorist activities against car dealers and other members of the business community. With the agenda of the Animal Rights movement being what it is, the focus of their terrorist attacks are on people that participate in the Capitalist system. Holding an Anarchist/Socialist belief system, this is where their hatred is centered and where Jeff Luers and all of the other "Activists" see as the center of all evil.
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