The Green Scare is legal action by the US government against the radical environmental movement, that occurred mostly in the 2000's. It alludes to the Red Scares, periods of fear over communist infiltration of US society. The term was popularized by environmental activists. It is first known to have appeared in the wake of the February 12, 2002 congressional hearings titled "The Threat of Eco-Terrorism", which discussed groups including the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The spring edition of the prisoner support zine Spirit of Freedom defined the term as "the tactics that the US government and all their tentacles (FBI, IRS, BATF, Joint Terrorism Task Forces, local police, the court system) are using to attack the ELF/ALF and specifically those who publicly support them." The term has been used by activists to describe a sweep of arrests, convictions and grand jury indictments of ELF and ALF operatives on charges relating to acts of property damage, conspiracy, arson and use of destructive devices. Cases Since 2000, the US government has prosecuted over 20 cases involving environmentalists, which Los Angeles CityBeat claims "redefined not only free speech, but also redefined environmentally motivated property destruction - like torching Hummers or tree-felling equipment." These arrests, indictments and trials, which have collectively been termed the Green Scare by environmentalists, include: Individuals Rod Coronado, a prominent Native American eco-anarchist, who was arrested on a felony charge of demonstrating the use of a destructive device. His indictment indirectly related to an August 1, 2003 fire in San Diego that destroyed an apartment complex causing an estimated $50 million worth of damage. Coronado, a self-described "unofficial ELF spokesman", stood trial in 2007. After two days of deliberations, the jury remained deadlocked so the judge declared a mistrial. He subsequently entered a guilty plea and accepted a deal for a one-year prison term. Jeff "Free" Luers, a veganarchist from Los Angeles, California, who served a prison sentence of almost ten years for arson. His initial sentence was over 22 years, but the Oregon Court of Appeals overturned it, and the Lane County Circuit Court determined a new sentence of 10 years in February 2008, after what The Independent described as an "international campaign for a more appropriate sentence for a crime in which no one was hurt." In 2000 he set fire to three SUVs at Romania Chevrolet dealership in Eugene, Oregon as