Tim DeChristopher

DeChristopher was born on November 18, 1981, in West Milford, West Virginia and grew up in Pittsburgh.{{cite web|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2011/08/07/Shady-Side-grad-jailed-after-attempt-to-block-land-sale/stories/201108070184|title=Shady Side grad jailed after attempt to block land sale |last=Butterfield |first=Sam |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=August 7, 2011|access-date=March 13, 2017}}{{cite news |last=Viebrock |first=Susan |url=http://www.tellurideinside.com/2011/05/2011-mountainfilm-in-telluride-tim-dechristopher-bidder-70.html |title=2011 Mountainfilm in Telluride: Tim DeChristopher, Bidder 70 |work=Telluride Inside and Out |date=May 23, 2011 |access-date=July 29, 2011}} After graduating from Shady Side Academy, he attended Arizona State University, and moved to Utah in 2005 where he worked as a wilderness guide for troubled and at-risk youth.{{cite magazine|last=Streep |first=Abe |url=http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/The-Trials-of-Bidder-70.html?page=all |title=The Trials of Bidder 70 |magazine=Outside |date=December 2001 |access-date=November 28, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106140000/http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/The-Trials-of-Bidder-70.html?page=all|archive-date=November 6, 2011}}{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Kirk |date=March 4, 2011 |url=https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/do-motives-matter-the-dechristopher-verdict/ |title=Do Motives Matter? The DeChristopher Verdict |work=Green |publisher=New York Times |access-date=July 28, 2020}} As a guide, DeChristopher emphasized self-reliance skills and respect for the natural world. His interaction with at-risk youth groups led him to reject what he viewed as a political and economic system that concentrates wealth in the hands of a privileged few while ostracizing vulnerable and impoverished citizens in the U.S.{{cite news |last=Gerhardt |first=Tina |author-link=Christina Gerhardt |date=February 14, 2011 |url=http://progressive.org/gerhardt021411.html |title=Environmental Activist on Trial: Interview with Tim DeChristopher |work=The Progressive |access-date=July 29, 2011}} This conviction later inspired him to study economics at the University of Utah, where he received a bachelor's degree in 2009.{{cite web |last=Buxton |first=Nick |url=https://www.redpepper.org.uk/time-to-be-honest/ |title=Time to be honest |work=Red Pepper |date=May 25, 2011 |access-date=July 28, 2020}}

As an avid reader, DeChristopher developed an interest in the writers and philosophies that have shaped U.S. and global social movements. His perspective on the American environmental movement highlights the critical role that civil disobedience has played in social movements throughout history, including the civil rights and women's suffrage movements.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}} DeChristopher's acts of civil disobedience have been compared to those of Rosa Parks by the media,{{cite magazine |author-link=Jeff Goodell |last=Goodell |first=Jeff |date=July 27, 2011 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/a-rosa-parks-moment-climate-activist-tim-dechristopher-sentenced-to-prison-237801/ |title=A Rosa Parks Moment: Climate Activist Tim DeChristopher Sentenced to Prison |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=July 29, 2011}} but DeChristopher has said that his actions are more comparable to those of Alice Paul,{{cite web |last=George |first=Carmen |date=February 28, 2011 |url=http://etalnews.org/dechristopher/2011/02/28/dechristopher-no-more-niceties |title=DeChristopher: No More Niceties |access-date=July 29, 2011}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} who escalated the women's rights movement by forcing the government to publicly arrest women protesting on the steps of the capitol and lending visibility to an obscured social movement.

DeChristopher's actions garnered national attention for later government auctions of public land leases in the final days of the Bush administration. In January 2009, Judge Ricardo Urbina of the District of Columbia federal district court temporarily halted the sale of 77 parcels, citing BLM violations of environmental laws protecting air quality and historic preservation. In February 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar shelved 77 disputed lease parcels{{cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Leslie |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/us/05leases.html |title=Drilling Leases Scrapped in Utah |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 4, 2009 |access-date=July 29, 2011}} – including some on which DeChristopher had bid in 2008 — and criticized Bush administrators for conducting a "rush review" of the contested lands.

DeChristopher has expressed the need for similar tactics to end mountaintop removal mining in his home state of West Virginia.{{cite web |last=Randolph |first=JW |date=July 27, 2011 |url=http://appvoices.org/2011/07/27/tim-dechristopher-sentenced-speaks-on-mtr |title=Tim DeChristopher, Sentenced, Speaks on MTR |work=Appalachian Voices}} In 2013, he and numerous other celebrities appeared in a video showing support for Chelsea Manning,{{cite news |first=Patrick |last=Gavin |title=Celeb video: 'I am Bradley Manning' |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/celebrity-bradley-manning-video-93041.html#ixzz2WgfpNmys |date=June 19, 2013 |work=Politico}}{{YouTube|id=UFFkcCh-pCc|title=I Am Bradley Manning}} and DeChristopher spoke in the University of Vermont's Ira Allen Chapel. In a 2014 climate change protest on Wall Street, DeChristopher expressed his view that "[b]eing serious about tackling the climate crisis means we have to be willing to confront corporate capitalism and the system that is driving that crisis."{{cite news |first=Alain |last=Sherter |title=Climate Change Protesters March On Wall Street |date=September 22, 2014 |work=CBS MoneyWatch |publisher=CBS Interactive |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-protesters-march-on-wall-street/ |access-date=December 14, 2014}}

After his release from jail in 2013, DeChristopher attended Harvard Divinity School and obtained a graduate degree. He settled with his family in Rhode Island.{{Cite news |first=Brian |last=Maffly |date=December 15, 2018 |title=10 years after he monkey-wrenched a Utah oil and gas lease auction, Tim DeChristopher is 'feeling demoralized' by 'the state of the world' but sees hope in humanity |url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/12/15/years-after-he-monkey/ |access-date=2023-01-22 |newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune |language=en-US}} DeChristopher is a founder of the Climate Disobedience Center which provides advice and assistance to climate activists engaged in civil disobedience.{{Cite web |title=Who We Are |url=https://www.climatedisobedience.org/who_we_are |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=Climate Disobedience Center}}{{Cite web |title=About Climate Disobedience Center |url=https://www.climatedisobedience.org/about |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=Climate Disobedience Center}} He participated in the No Coal, No Gas direct action campaign to hasten the end of fossil fuel usage in New England.{{Cite magazine |last=Stephenson |first=Wen |date=February 7, 2020 |title=Voices From the Front Lines of a Climate Direct Action Campaign |language=en-US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/climate-activism-grassroots-resistance/ |magazine=The Nation |access-date=2023-01-22 |issn=0027-8378}} DeChristopher advocates for non-violent direct action to address environmental issues.{{Cite magazine |first=Tim |last=DeChristopher |date=Spring 2021 |title=In a World on Fire, Is Nonviolence Still an Option? |url=https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/ecological-civilization/2021/02/16/climate-is-nonviolence-still-an-option |access-date=2023-01-22 |magazine=yes! Magazine |language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine |first=Tim |last=DeChristopher |date=Summer 2020 |title=It's Not as Simple as Rebellion |url=https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/coronavirus-community-power/2020/05/11/its-not-as-simple-as-rebellion |access-date=2023-01-22 |magazine=yes! Magazine |language=en-US}}

In a 2009 indictment DeChristopher was charged with two felonies: violations of the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act and making false statements. He faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.{{cite court |court=D. Utah |url=http://www.plainsite.org/dockets/download.html?id=25169541&z=d2df9aa1 |litigants=USA v. DeChristopher |date=April 1, 2009 |access-date=July 31, 2016}}

DeChristopher's defense team sought to rely on a necessity defense,{{cite web |url=http://www.bidder70.org/files/62601_62700/62662/proffer-final.pdf |title=Written Proffer of Choice of Evils Defense and Request for Evidentiary Hearing. |access-date=February 12, 2012 |archive-date=March 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328075342/http://www.bidder70.org/files/62601_62700/62662/proffer-final.pdf |url-status=dead }} which required proof that DeChristopher was forced to choose between two evils and that his actions resulted in the lesser of the two to avoid imminent harm where no legal alternative was available. U.S. District Judge Dee Benson prohibited the defense, precluding any evidence that might have supported it. The court also barred evidence that the lease auction was deemed unlawful, that DeChristopher had raised sufficient funds for an initial payment to the BLM (which the BLM refused to accept), or that DeChristopher's motives were grounded in moral convictions related to climate change.

Prosecutor John W. Huber told the media that DeChristopher was looking for{{cite news |first=Melinda |last=Rogers |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=52220178&itype=CMSID |title=Prosecutors say climate activist needs harsh penalty |newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=July 19, 2011 |access-date=July 29, 2011}} "a prominent venue for his global-warming show — a platform from which he could educate the masses," and asserted that DeChristopher had overlooked legal methods of protest. DeChristopher responded in court to the assertion that he could have filed written protests against certain parcels:

[T]wo months prior to this auction, . . . a congressional report . . . by the House committee on public lands[] stated that it had become common practice for the BLM to take volunteers from the oil and gas industry to process those permits. The oil industry was paying people specifically to volunteer for the industry that was supposed to be regulating it, and it was to those industry staff that I would have been appealing.

DeChristopher also tried to rely on a selective prosecution defense, citing "political machinations" behind the indictment and requesting information from federal prosecutors on instances in which individuals or companies reneged on bids for public land but were not prosecuted. Judge Benson denied that request as well.

DeChristopher was convicted on both felony counts.

File:Tim DeChristopher entering Scott Matheson Courthouse July 26, 2011 Salt Lake City Utah USA.jpg

File:Protesters from Peaceful Uprising at Tim DeChristopher's sentencing July 26, 2011 Salt Lake City Utah USA.jpg

In his pre-sentencing statement, DeChristopher said:

[The prosecutor] wrote that 'The rule of law is the bedrock of our civilized society, not acts of "civil disobedience" committed in the name of the cause of the day'. That's an especially ironic statement when he is representing the United States of America, a place where the rule of law was created through acts of civil disobedience. Since those bedrock acts of civil disobedience by our founding fathers, the rule of law in this country has continued to grow closer to our shared higher moral code through the civil disobedience that drew attention to legalized injustice.{{cite web|last=Henry|first=Deb|url=http://www.peacefuluprising.org/tims-official-statement-at-his-sentencing-hearing-20110726|title=Tim's official statement at his sentencing hearing|date=July 27, 2011|publisher=Peaceful Uprising|access-date=2011-07-29}}

The U.S. Attorney's office had also argued that "a federal prison term here will deter others from entering a path of criminal behavior." DeChristopher responded:

{{blockquote|The certainty of this statement not only ignores the history of political prisoners, it ignores the severity of the present situation. Those who are inspired to follow my actions are those who understand that we are on a path toward catastrophic consequences of climate change. They know their future, and the future of their loved ones, is on the line. And they know we are running out of time to turn things around. The closer we get to that point where it's too late, the less people have to lose by fighting back. The power of the Justice Department is based on its ability to take things away from people. The more that people feel that they have nothing to lose, the more that power begins to shrivel. The people who are committed to fighting for a livable future will not be discouraged or intimidated by anything that happens here today.

And neither will I. I will continue to confront the system that threatens our future. Given the destruction of our democratic institutions that once gave citizens access to power, my future will likely involve civil disobedience. Nothing that happens here today will change that. I don't mean that in any sort of disrespectful way at all, but you don't have that authority. You have authority over my life, but not my principles. Those are mine alone.}}

Judge Benson imposed a sentence of two years in prison and a $10,000 fine, saying that were it not for his "continuing trail of statements" post-auction, DeChristopher might have avoided prosecution and prison. According to the judge, "The offense itself, with all apologies to people actually in the auction itself, wasn't that bad."

The sentencing was followed by protests in Salt Lake City, where 26 people were arrested, and other U.S. cities.{{cite news|last=Jensen|first=Derek P.|url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52264621-90/dechristopher-lake-salt-courthouse.html.csp|title=DeChristopher sentence riles protesters, spurs arrests|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=July 26, 2011|access-date=July 29, 2011}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.deseret.com/2011/7/27/20385937/police-protesters-profess-praise-over-26-arrests-in-dechristopher-demonstration |title=Police, protesters profess praise over 26 arrests in DeChristopher demonstration |author=John Hollenhorst |work=Deseret News |date=July 27, 2011|accessdate=May 18, 2022}}

DeChristopher was initially held at Federal Correctional Institution, Herlong and was later transferred to Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood.{{cite news|author=Maffly, Brian|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sltrib/news/56159854-78/dechristopher-tim-bidder-prison.html.csp|title=Activist Tim DeChristopher to be freed after 21 months in custody|newspaper=Salt Lake Tribune|date=April 17, 2013|access-date=August 21, 2016}}

According to a Peaceful Uprising press release, in March 2012 DeChristopher was moved from a minimum security camp to a restrictive "special housing unit" because an email he sent to a friend contained the word "threaten," triggering an alert from the inmate correspondence monitoring system.{{cite web

|url= http://www.peacefuluprising.org/breaking-tim-dechristopher-transferred-out-of-the-hole-but-questions-remain-20120327 |title= Tim transferred out of "the hole", but questions remain |date= March 27, 2012 |work= Breaking |publisher= Peaceful Uprising |access-date= April 3, 2012 |quote= He was moved back to minimum security after the prison, the Bureau of Prisons and members of Congress received thousands of phone calls… }}{{cite news |title= Lawyers say Utah activist being punished in prison |author= Paul Foy |url= http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NATIONAL_PARKS_DRILLING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT |newspaper= Associated Press

|date= March 29, 2012 |access-date= April 3, 2012 | quote = Salt Lake City (AP) — A prominent environmental activist has been released from an isolation unit....}} DeChristopher was released on April 21, 2013, a day before Earth Day, after 21 months in prison.[http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/22/earth_day_exclusive_tim_dechristopher_speaks "Earth Day Exclusive: Tim DeChristopher Speaks Out After 21 Months in Prison for Disrupting Oil Bid"] Democracy Now. April 22, 2013.

DeChristopher appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which affirmed the convictions.[http://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/11/11-4151.pdf United States of America v. Tim DeChristopher], No. 11-4151 (10th Cir. 2012).

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros singer Alex Ebert recorded a music video "Let's Win"{{cite web|url=http://wagingnonviolence.org/2011/06/popular-support-mounts-for-tim-dechristopher/|title=Popular support mounts for Tim DeChristopher with new music video|publisher=Waging Nonviolence|date=June 9, 2011|access-date=July 29, 2011}} showcasing popular support for DeChristopher and scenes from a Salt Lake City protest in March 2011.

Author Chris Guillebeau's book, The Art of Non-Conformity, supports DeChristopher's actions as "creative acts of protest" in times when "morality and law are on opposite sides."{{cite web|url=http://chrisguillebeau.com/about-the-project/|title=The Art of Non-Conformity » About the Art of Non-Conformity Site|publisher=Chrisguillebeau.com|access-date=July 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727171357/http://chrisguillebeau.com/about-the-project/|archive-date=July 27, 2011|url-status=dead}}

Rolling Stone magazine journalist Jeff Goodell wrote an article on DeChristopher calling him "America's Most Creative Climate Criminal."{{cite magazine|first=Jeff|last=Goodell|author-link=Jeff Goodell|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/meet-america-s-most-creative-climate-criminal-20110707|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711030127/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/meet-america-s-most-creative-climate-criminal-20110707|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 11, 2011|title=Meet Americas Most Creative Climate Criminal|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=July 7, 2011|access-date=July 29, 2011}}

American author and environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams published an op-ed piece in The Salt Lake Tribune following DeChristopher's sentence.{{cite news|first=Terry Tempest|last=Williams|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=52271955&itype=CMSID|title=The real criminal|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=July 28, 2011|access-date=July 26, 2021}}{{cite web|first=Terry Tempest|last=Williams|url=http://wn.com/Terry_Tempest_Williams_on_the_heroism_of_Tim_DeChristopher|title=Terry Tempest Williams On The Heroism Of Tim DeChristopher|access-date=July 29, 2011}}

DeChristopher was named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011.{{cite web|title=Tim DeChristopher: Disobedient Green|url=http://www.utne.com/Environment/Utne-Reader-Visionaries-Tim-DeChristopher-Disobedient-Green.aspx|publisher=Utne Reader |date=November–December 2011|access-date=October 19, 2011}}

TreeHugger named DeChristopher 2011 Person of the Year on December 16, 2011.{{cite web |url=http://www.treehugger.com/culture/Tim-DeChristopher-Person-of-the-Year.html|title=Tim DeChristopher is TreeHugger Person of the Year |website=TreeHugger |date=December 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019183431/http://www.treehugger.com/culture/Tim-DeChristopher-Person-of-the-Year.html |archive-date=October 19, 2017}}

A December 17, 2011 article in The Salt Lake Tribune named DeChristopher as one of 16 candidates selected by their Editorial Board to be named 2011 Utahn of the Year.{{cite news|last=Fitzpatrick|first=Tim|title=Editor column: Who should be 2011's Utahn of the Year?|url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53133186-78/utah-utahn-named-whose.html.csp|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=December 17, 2011}}

Bidder 70, a documentary film about DeChristopher directed by Beth Gage and George Gage, was released in 2012.{{Cite AV media |url=http://blip.tv/aspect-ratio-cfi/aspect-ratio-january-2013-6520970 |title=Aspect Ratio - January 2013 |medium=Television Production |date=January 27, 2013 |location=San Rafael, CA |publisher=Community Media Center of Marin |access-date=February 3, 2012 |people=Gage, Beth; Gage, George; Morrison, John |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928175313/http://blip.tv/aspect-ratio-cfi/aspect-ratio-january-2013-6520970 |archive-date=September 28, 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2085759/ | title=Bidder 70 | website=Internet Movie Database | access-date=May 27, 2013}}

A "Special Treat" Q&A session was held following the 7:10pm May 17, 2013 "Theatrical Opening" of Bidder 70 at Quad Cinema in NYC. DeChristopher spoke on topics relevant to activist causes, his prison experience, and why he planned to attend Harvard Divinity School in the Fall.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/12/15/years-after-he-monkey/|title = 10 years after he monkey-wrenched a Utah oil and gas lease auction, Tim DeChristopher is 'feeling demoralized' by 'the state of the world' but sees hope in humanity}} DeChristopher notably described himself as an "anti-government activist". Notable among the questioners was Gasland director Josh Fox. A complete video of the session was published on YouTube on May 20, 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sy-2WAvAHo|title=Tim DeChristopher Speaks after "Bidder 70" NYC Theatrical Opening, May 17, 2013 [Uncut]|publisher=Kevin G. O'Neill |date=May 20, 2013|access-date=May 20, 2013}}

DeChristopher was interviewed on television by David Letterman on the Late Show on June 25, 2013.[http://www.cbs.com/shows/late_show/guests/ This Week's Guests] Late Show, CBS. Retrieved: June 25, 2013.[http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogstv/56509742-63/dechristopher-abc-letterman-tries.html.csp Tuesday on TV: Utah activist Tim DeChristopher will chat with Letterman] Salt Lake Tribune, June 25, 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnRwqS25b6o|title=David Letterman interviews environmental activist Tim DeChristopher |website=YouTube |date=June 26, 2013|access-date=June 28, 2013}}

DeChristopher visited Wendell Berry at his home in Kentucky in summer 2019. Their conversation appeared in Orion Magazine in March 2020 entitled "To Live and Love with a Dying World."{{cite web|url=https://orionmagazine.org/article/to-live-and-love-with-a-dying-world/|title= To Live and Love with a Dying World, Orion Magazine|date=March 2, 2020}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.plainsite.org/dockets/download.html?id=25169541&z=d2df9aa1 USA v. DeChristopher Indictment] and [http://www.plainsite.org/dockets/m8c62rrv/utah-district-court/usa-v-dechristopher/ all documents] from USA v. DeChristopher, Case 2:09-cr-00183 United States Court, District of Utah
• [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/timdechristopher/pages/8/attachments/original/1430237399/DeChristopher_final.pdf?1430237399 DeChristopher Press Release] The United States Department of Justice post-trial press release for DeChristopher's trial.

{{Commons}}

• [http://www.timdechristopher.org Official Tim DeChristopher website]
• [http://climateworkshop.org Climate Workshop Podcast hosted by Tim DeChristopher]
• [http://www.peacefuluprising.org Peaceful Uprising]
• [http://www.bidder70.org/ bidder70.org]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeChristopher, Tim}}

Category:American environmentalists

Category:American Unitarian Universalists

Category:Civil disobedience in the United States

Category:Living people

Category:People from Harrison County, West Virginia

Category:Arizona State University alumni

Category:University of Utah alumni

Category:1981 births

Category:Activists from Pittsburgh

Category:Shady Side Academy alumni

Category:Harvard Divinity School alumni

Category:American people convicted of making false statements

Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government