Thursday, December 15, 2005


Sarah Harvey (left) with her partner H.E. Martel at an International AIDS Candlelight Memorial in Tuscon.

Flagstaff, Arizona - Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Lodge accused Sarah Kendall Harvey, who is also known as Kendall Tankersley, of acting as a look-out during the December 28, 1998 fire at the U.S. Forest Industries building in Medford, Oregon. The evidence against her comes from an August, 2005 conversation that was tape recorded by a cooperating witness, who the government says started the fire. According to the prosecutor, Kendall appears to admit involvement in the crime on the tape. The Earth Liberation Front, which Kendall is also accused of being part of, claimed credit for the fire.

Her attorney, John Trebon, argued that she no longer espouses the "fringe ideals" of the environmental movement and is an educated woman who has the support of her family. She has a bachelor's degree in molecular biology from Humboldt State and her domestic partner is a professor who has applied to medical school. The judge set her bail at $150,000, but will not make it final until another bail hearing on Friday; he wants assurance that Kendall will use her own money and wants her mother and partner to ensure her appearance. Her father is a retired attorney and her mother is a retired public defender.

Magistrate Judge Mark E. Aspey ordered Kendall to return to court on Friday, so he can conclude the matter. Bill C. Rodgers, 40, of Prescott, Arizona, who was arrested in the same FBI operation, is also scheduled to appear in court at that time.