(RightWing.org) – Last month, President Joe Biden ignited a fresh controversy when he nominated a former terrorist to head the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Environmental groups are backing away from the radical nominee – and new evidence means more opposition is likely.
Who Is Tracy Stone-Manning?
In June, Biden nominated former Earth First! eco-terrorist Tracy Stone-Manning as the new director of the Bureau of Land Management. Founded in 1980, Earth First! is an extremist group that believes in “direct action” – terrorist violence – to protect the environment. From setting up platforms in trees, it quickly graduated to destroying ski lifts, driving metal spikes into trees (so that cutting them ends up with a broken saw and often an injured worker), and at least one attempted bombing.
In 1993 Stone-Manning’s roommate was jailed for a spiking campaign that left 500 pounds of steel spikes pounded into trees in an Idaho forest. Stone-Manning was also involved in the plot but traded cooperation for immunity. After that, particularly when Biden nominated her for the BLM post, she tried to minimize her involvement in Earth First!, pretending to have been only a sympathizer.
The Truth Comes Out
Since details of Stone-Manning’s past have emerged, environmental groups that had backed her for the post have begun to withdraw their support. On July 7, the Dallas Safari Club, which had previously recommended Stone-Manning as “uniquely qualified” for the job, wrote to the Senate Energy and Resources Committee to say it was “impossible at this time” for them to keep supporting her because of her history with a violent group. However, she still regularly made extremist comments; in 2018, she suggested that homes threatened by wildfires should be allowed to burn.
Now, the lead investigator on the case that jailed Stone-Manning’s roommate has made it clear: Biden’s nominee wasn’t on the fringes of the terror plot. Forest Service investigator Michael Merkley told the Senate committee, “she played an active role in the Earth First! hierarchy.” Merkley called Stone-Manning “the nastiest of the suspects,” describing her as “vulgar, antagonistic, and extremely anti-government.” He said she only agreed to cooperate when told she faced arrest, and that it’s clear she knew all along who had carried out the spiking attacks. Worst of all, Merkley alleges that she lied to the Senate about her terrorist activities during her confirmation hearings.
Is this really the sort of violent extremist we want in our government?
Copyright 2021, RightWing.org
