Environmental Film Festival Organized By Former Eco-Terrorist
Style Weekly reports that the upcoming Richmond Environmental Film Festival organizer John Wade was convicted in 2002 of conspiring to blow up a crane at Short Pump Town Center with fellow members of the Earth Liberation Front, an organization labeled by the FBI as “one of the most ‘dangerous domestic terror groups’ in the United States”:
When Wade started organizing the event, he knew he needed a big-name speaker for added oomph. But Robert Kennedy Jr. wanted $30,000 and Al Gore costs $150,000 — plus there’s a two-year waiting list for the Nobel laureate. After hearing a Baltimore speech months ago by longtime consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Wade waited in a book-signing line and simply asked for Nader’s help.
He agreed.
“Do you think I should have told Nader?” Wade poses to a Style reporter.
He probably should have told Style, who has pulled their sponsorship of the event.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Wow. This guy Wade sounds really scary. Maybe an enlightening day of ecco-cinema is the safest place to be while this “eco-terrorist” is on the loose. Attending the film-fest is also a statement IN FAVOR of education over property destruction as a tactic.
By the way, here’s the monstrosity that Wade was trying to head off:
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8148/55510305eg7.png
The proposed Trader Joe’s almost makes it all worth while, imho.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Not “ecco” like the shoes. They might not be worthy of a day of movies.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:03 am
[...] J’s Notes Category: Richmond | Comment (RSS) [...]
February 2nd, 2008 at 10:49 am
Foodie - I think the problem here is he purposefully withheld a very important fact about his past and misled his sponsors and even Mr. Nader. Had he been upfront, had he actually shown any sort of remorse or change in his stance from illegal activism to more pacifist means, it probably wouldn’t be an issue. But he was purposefully hiding it and anyone who’s attached their name to this has to be weary of any “guilt by association”. I hope it doesn’t stop this film festival from happening and I hope that he’s able to pull it off again in the future, but it was irresponsible of him and disingenuous of him to not be up front about his past.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
No business likes surprises, but taking a stance on an issue entails such risks and requires conviction. In the long run, it’s principals that establish an organization’s character and not brief alliances. I’m just disappointed in how tenuously environmentalism is embraced and how predictably people look for convenient for a way out. Ultimately, there’s no back door to this planet.
What’s Wade supposed to do, wear a scarlet letter? Virginia strips him of his right to vote and he’d probably get exponential penalties for even minor infractions because of his history. What kind of citizenship is left if he has has to preface his every opinion and interaction with a disclaimer? Maybe Style should feature a warning about how many trees have been sacrificed for its production. I mean, is anyone’s conscience 100% clear? Maybe Nader should have to show remorse for his boneheaded 2004 candidacy before he’s taken seriously.
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I’m very conflicted about eco-terrorism. Some things do seem worthy of being blown up, like the Dominion offices below Hollywood Cemetary, the DMV building on Broad and the entire MCV campus, but we can’t just have people blowing things up without a license. It would set a bad precident.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
richmond.com article
February 5th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
I can only speak to the editorial side of Style Weekly in saying that our team is covering the festival, as we always would, whether or not the magazine is a sponsor of that event. I hope you’ll enjoy a story in today’s Arts & Culture section that features an exclusive Q&A with Ralph Nader. You also may have noticed that we’ve published a cover story profile by writer Brent Baldwin on John Wade.
It’s an interesting story that explores some of the controversial debates among those in the environmental movement, and the drastically different approaches to making change by the more mainstream as well as radical organizations. We share what inspired Mr. Wade to his cause, and how his perspectives have changed.
No, he doesn’t quite apologize for his and his friends’ actions — which include inflicting more than $200,000 in damage locally and intimidating residents. But he does discuss how he’s struggling with ways to further his cause since serving three years in federal prison. Brent Baldwin also writes about the Patriot Act and how it affected Mr. Wade’s situation, which included the government naming him as an “eco-terrorist.”
You should know that Style Weekly has served as a sponsor of these kinds of events before, including spearheading the first “Living Green” awards (did you go?) in October, corresponding with a special Green Issue of Home Style, our monthly home magazine. Unfortunately, Mr. Wade intentionally withheld significant, relevant information about himself (as he says) in securing support and sponsorship. That put the company in a poor position when it learned, last-minute, about Mr. Wade’s background. As you can imagine, this left the decision-makers wondering what else they hadn’t been told about the event, if anything. It’s too bad that Mr. Wade wasn’t up front from the beginning.
By the way, the company’s sponsorship was in the form of reduced-rate advertising. So its decision to suspend sponsorship included giving money back to Mr. Wade’s group, not taking it away. I know that Style’s publisher and Mr. Wade have spoken in the days since and have come to an understanding, and perhaps they can move forward with a more honest and open relationship on future events.
February 6th, 2008 at 11:53 am
[...] Roop, editor of Style Weekly, has commented on Style’s withdrawing of their sponsorship of the Environmental Film Festival in light of [...]
February 11th, 2008 at 4:57 am
I have been following a few of these online posts. I am not usually much of a technologist, but I am going to type something in this box, press the enter key, and see what happens. I am going to respond to a few of Jason Roop’s statements, one in particular. Jason says that I “intentionally withheld significant, relevant information about himself (as he says) in securing support and sponsorship.” Well, this is not quite what I said. I said that I withheld the information, but I never said it was significant or relevant. Had I thought it was relevant, I would have discussed it. I would normally talk about my past in the context of a personal relationship, and the film festival is a production that has nothing to do with my attempts to halt Short Pump mall construction or Route 288 construction. I never lied in answering any question, and if Style Weekly thought that my past was relevant, they should have asked about it. I am just glad that the original, misleading article first published did not create a bandwagon that could have resulted in the death of the festival.
It ended today, and was a huge success thanks to many people and businesses in the Richmond community. I am sorry that Style Weekly chose to disassociate from the festival, but I thank them for being an early supporter and for publishing a fairer article in this week’s edition.
My guess is that this debate is largely over now, and I am not quite sure if this will even reach anybody.
I will see everyone around Richmond,
John