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SALT LAKE CITY — Shea Wickelson was doing a good job at answering questions while she corralled her active curly-haired toddler to keep him safe from mischief.
"I don't know how much I'll be able to talk," she said, gesturing to her little boy. "But I am here to support Tim."
Others, too, gathered Thursday across the street from the federal court house on Main Street, where they plan to remain much of the day as part of 40 such similar events being staged across the country in solidarity of environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, who is supposed to address the Salt Lake crowd today at 2:30 p.m.
DeChristopher had been scheduled to be sentenced Thursday before Judge Dee Benson on two third-degree felony convictions stemming from his December 2008 disruption of an oil and gas lease auction.
Although he faces up to 10 years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney for Utah Carlie Christensen has said the maximum sentence will not be pursued by her office.
Still, supporters of the climate change folk hero say any time behind bars signifies a corrupt federal government already overtaken by corporate interests that put profits ahead of a safe, clean environment.
"What he did was an important and effective action," Wickelson said. "I hope to be part of voicing my opinion."
DeChristopher was convicted by a jury after a week-long trial in federal court earlier this year. He has never disputed that he walked into a Bureau of Land Management auction in Salt Lake City and decided to register as a bidder, although did not have the intention of following through on the 14 parcels he won for $1.8 million.
A University of Utah student at the time who was majoring in economics, DeChristopher decided to join protesters outside the controversial auction. Once on the sidewalk, however, he said he felt he needed to do more than just hold a sign, so he went inside.
Federal prosecutors say by fraudulently participating in the auction, DeChristopher artificially drove up prices on the leases and deprived good-faith bidders of the chance to win the parcels.
Environmentalists said the parcels should never have been put to bid in the first place, and were rushed to auction in the waning days of the Bush administration before President Obama took office.
Two months after the auction, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar rescinded 77 of the parcels that had been offered at lease, essentially echoing concerns of environmental groups. Some of those parcels have since been reinstated, and an independent investigation by the Interior Department's Inspector General concluded the BLM did not improperly offer the leases at auction.
The national controversy stoked the credibility of DeChristopher's concerns and helped shape him into a modern day poster child for civil disobedience.
The national controversy, however, stoked the credibility of DeChristopher's concerns and helped shape him into a modern day poster child for civil disobedience.
Peaceful Uprising, the non-violent activist group founded by DeChristopher, decided to go ahead and stage Thursday's event and called for similar demonstrations across the country in support of change through civil disobedience.
The three dozen or so participants early Thursday were being urged to take part in a photo shoot that will be compiled into a collage posted on the organization's website.
Ashley Anderson, director of Peaceful Uprising, said he and others believe DeChristopher's sentencing was deliberately postponed and rescheduled for July 26 — a day after the long Pioneer Day holiday festivities — to dilute the media and public's attention.
"The federal government has nothing to win by media attention," he said.
Supporters, then, decided to continue on with the national call to action and plan other events this week.
On Friday, the group will meet at 10 a.m. Liberty Park for a "Bootcamp Barbecue" in which members and supporters will participate in workshops, action planning and non-violence training.
That event is designed to identify nine separate plans for specific community action events on Saturday. Anderson said the events will either involve volunteer efforts in support of sustainable "good neighbor" movements — such as the planting of a community garden from scratch — or calls for change in front of corporations the group says foster irresponsible environmental practices.
Email:aodonoghue@ksl.com
