Activist Going to Court for Answers

The Pomona man arrested and released in September in connection with the firebombings of sport utility vehicles in the San Gabriel Valley plans to ask a federal court today to unseal affidavits that describe how law enforcement officials zeroed in on him.

On Aug. 22, vandals inflicted $3.5 million in damage to Hummers and other SUVs at four auto dealerships in Arcadia, Duarte and West Covina.

Three weeks later, federal agents arrested Josh Connole, a 25-year-old antiwar and environmental activist. On Sept. 15, three days after his arrest, Connole walked out of jail without being charged. He has maintained his innocence.

A state affidavit indicated that an unnamed informant pointed authorities toward Connole, and said details about probable cause would appear in documents supporting the federal search warrant. That federal warrant remains under seal.

Connole’s attorney, Bill Paparian, said local and federal agents have kept the probable cause a secret long enough.

“Three months have passed since the affidavits were ordered sealed,” Connole’s motion states. “Mr. Connole’s much ballyhooed arrest turned into a dry well for the government. The balance of interests now tips in his favor -- he is entitled to know how he became the Hitchcockian ‘wrong man,’ and he is entitled to litigate the return of his property and that of his associates.”

Paparian said that authorities still have not returned a computer, several disks, a cell phone, belt and several pairs of pants that belong to Connole, who was camping in the desert Sunday and could not be reached.

“It’s becoming more and more like the case of Judi Bari, where they smeared her and Darryl Cherney as eco-terrorists and, as a consequence, the taxpayers paid out a $4.4-million judgment,” Paparian said.

A federal jury found that FBI agents and Oakland police officers violated the civil rights of the Earth First! activists when authorities were investigating a pipe bomb that blew up in Bari’s car in May 1990.

Federal officials, however, said they have not made any final determination on Connole’s status. The FBI has been cautious about how it characterizes him.

“As we all know, charges have not been brought against Mr. Connole,” FBI spokesman Matthew McLaughlin said Sunday. “But by the same token, as a matter of procedure, we don’t routinely call people suspects.”

Only the West Covina police have identified Connole as a “suspect.”

While other federal law enforcement sources say Connole has not been exonerated, McLaughlin would say only, “We continue to look at a number of individuals in connection with this case.”

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said that when Connole files a motion to unseal the affidavits, his office will respond in due course.

Connole’s housemates at the environmentally oriented cooperative in Pomona where he lives said they hope the federal magistrate will unseal the warrant so they can better understand why law enforcement officials watched their house and seized their belongings.

“I think it’s important for us to be able to have transparency,” said Connole’s housemate, Kortney Zeman, 22. “We feel it’s no longer an issue of security for that investigation that those things be released.... We just want to move on.”

Connole moved into the co-op, known as Regen V, earlier this summer and began working for the solar panel firm Energy Efficiency.

Connole filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice on Sept. 28, alleging that the FBI violated his civil rights. His lawyer said the department is still considering the complaint.