This article was cross-posted from Poligazette. And before you ask, yes, I had a lot of fun writing it.
CBS News reports that radical eco-activist Marie Mason has been sentenced to 22 years on charges of arson, setting off an explosive fire in 1999 at Michigan State University’s Agricultural Hall. Here’s the details:
At MSU, Mason and Ambrose targeted a campus office that held records on research related to moth-resistant potatoes for poor parts of Africa. Computers, file cabinets and desks were doused with a flammable liquid. Vapors contributed to an explosion, and the fire got out of control.
The explosion burned Mason’s hair and prevented her from finishing the message, “No GMO,” on a wall, a reference to genetically modified organisms.
“Pure luck” prevented the couple from being killed, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagen Frank said. “Did that deter Ms. Mason? Not one bit. She celebrated it. Her community celebrated it.”
Someone innocent could have been killed, and Mason almost was. Her husband, who turned informant for the FBI, was given nine years.
Of course, the actions are pretty disturbing. But almost or as much as disturbing is where the apparent facts lead one reading the story. Mason will serve time in a domestic prison. Perhaps a high security prison. And that’s unconscionable. Because lets not forget: Mason is a terrorist. And well, as we’ve been told, we can’t have terrorists held on U.S. soil.