Fort Benning Arsonist Sentenced

/PRNewswire/ -- Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) and Fort Benning announced today the sentencing of a former Army civilian employee responsible for burning down the Fort Benning Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) building on Feb. 6, 2009. The Honorable Clay Land, U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia sentenced Shawana Topekia Pierce, 31, of Columbus, to 84 months (7 years) in federal prison, plus 3 years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $7.5 million in restitution. There is no parole in the federal system.

"This was an attack on an institution of justice, having a significant community impact," said Special Agent in Charge Gregory Gant of ATF's Atlanta Field Division. "ATF, Army CID, and military police investigators brought to bear every available asset in our collective effort to investigate the fire and solve this crime. This investigation is a textbook example of agencies working together to solve a complex case in very short order."

"Today's sentencing should send a clear message to everyone affiliated with the U.S. Army, in or out or uniform, that if you perpetrate a crime against our Army or its people, or destroy government property, we will track you down and do everything in our power to bring you to justice," said Brigadier General Rodney Johnson, the Commanding General of Army CID. "We were fortunate to have such a tremendous working relationship with the ATF throughout this investigation and we were even more fortunate that none of our first responders or Soldiers were killed during this senseless act."

At the request of the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Command, ATF deployed its National Response Team (NRT) and special agents from ATF's Atlanta Field Division joined the investigation to work alongside CID agents and Military Police personnel. By Feb. 11, the team of investigators had officially determined the cause of the fire to be incendiary ("arson"), had secured a federal warrant for Pierce's arrest and took her into custody on the same day. Later that month, a federal grand jury formally charged Pierce for the federal crime of arson for her role in causing the destruction of the Ft. Benning SJA office building.

According to information presented in court and U.S. Attorney's Office officials who prosecuted the case, Pierce pleaded guilty to the charge on July 15, 2009 and admitted to burning down the facility. On February 6, Pierce traveled to Fort Benning and went to the SJA building, where she broke a window, entered the building and poured gasoline in different places. She also placed piles of paper on some desks. Pierce then placed two propane gas bottles inside the building and used a butane lighter to ignite the gasoline-soaked parts of the building, then departed.

The Fort Benning Fire Department, assisted by the Columbus Fire Department, responded to and suppressed the fire. The SJA building was completely destroyed. Two first responders, a fire fighter and a police officer, suffered smoke injuries during the fire and were treated at a hospital.

"The Fort Benning community really came together to reestablish legal services, immediately following the fire, which is a tremendous testimony to the team here," said Col. Tracy Barnes, Staff Judge Advocate. "But we still feel the effects today, since we are now operating out of four locations across post. Fort Benning also suffered an historical loss, since the SJA building was the second oldest building on Fort Benning."

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

ATF Doubles Reward for Information on Fort Benning J.A.G. Office Building Fire

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) today announced that they are offering an additional $5,000 for information that would assist investigators in determining the cause of the fire that occurred on Feb. 6, at the Ft. Benning Judge Advocate General (J.A.G.) Office building.

ATF is matching the $5,000 reward offered earlier by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) for information on the fire.

Anyone with information regarding the incident should contact CID at 706-545-8915 or e-mail CID at crimetips@conus.army.mil, or ATF's 24-hour, toll-free hotline at 1-888-ATF-FIRE (1-888-283-3473).

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

ATF National Response Team Activated to Army J.A.G. Office Building Fire

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At the request of the United States Army, Criminal Investigation Command, the National Response Team (NRT) from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), along with ATF special agents from the Atlanta Field Division, have entered into the investigation of a fire that occurred on the Fort Benning U.S. Army post. The fire occurred on Feb. 6, 2009, at the Judge Advocate General (J.A.G.) Office building. The J.A.G. office was approximately 10,000 square feet and was totally destroyed by the fire. The investigation is continuing.

The NRT arrived in town and began work at the scene today alongside military investigators in reconstructing the scene, identifying the origin of the fire, conducting interviews, and sifting through debris.

In 1978, ATF developed the NRT to provide resources to federal, state and local investigators in meeting the challenges faced at the scenes of significant fire and explosives incidents. The NRT consists of four teams organized geographically to cover the United States. Each team can respond within 24 hours to assist state and local law enforcement/fire service personnel in onsite investigations.

In addition to investigating hundreds of large fire scenes, the NRT has also been activated to scenes such as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Oklahoma City federal building bombing and the 9/11 Pentagon crash site, as well as explosions at explosives and ammunition manufacturing plants, legal fireworks factories and illegal explosive device manufacturing operations.

The teams are each composed of veteran special agents who have post blast and fire origin-and-cause expertise; forensic chemists; explosives enforcement officers; fire protection engineers; accelerant detection canines; explosives detection canines; intelligence support, computer forensic support and audit support.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Human Rights Advocates Face Six Months in Federal Prison for Nonviolent Direct Action Opposing the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC)

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Monday, January 26, 2009, six human rights advocates will begin federal trials for carrying the protest against the School of the Americas onto the Fort Benning military base in Georgia. This school, re-named the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, is a controversial U.S. Army training school for Latin American soldiers. Each person faces up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine for this act of nonviolent civil disobedience.

The 6 were among the tens of thousands who gathered on November 22-23, 2008 outside the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia to demand a change in U.S.-Latin America foreign policy and the closure of the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC). The group peacefully crossed onto Ft. Benning in memory of those killed by graduates of the institution.

The "SOA 6" are:

Sr. Diane Pinchot, OSU, from Cleveland, Ohio
Theresa Cusimano, Denver, Colorado
Father Luis Barrios, from North Bergen, NJ
Al Simmons, from Richmond, Virginia
Louis Wolf, from Washington, DC
Kristen Holm, from Chicago, Illinois


The SOA/WHINSEC, a military training facility for Latin American security personnel located at Fort Benning, Georgia, made headlines in 1996 when the Pentagon released training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. In spite of an aggressive international PR campaign and lobbying efforts on behalf of WHINSEC, support for the institute continues to erode. With over thirty-five Representatives who voted to continue funding the SOA/WHINSEC losing their seats in Congress in November 2008, human rights advocates have their sights set on pressuring the new Congress to permanently shut down the school in 2009. The last vote to defund the SOA/WHINSEC, in 2007, lost by a margin of only six votes.

The trial at the Federal Court in Columbus, Georgia will begin at 9am before Judge G. Mallon Faircloth, known for handing down stiff sentences to SOA/WHINSEC opponents. Since protests against the SOA/WHINSEC began 19 years ago, 237 people have served prison sentences of up to two years for nonviolent civil disobedience.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page