Biography
Mark Davis was an Earth First! activist from Prescott, Arizona and a member of the small affinity group that called itself EMETIC — the Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist International Conspiracy, named after the impeached Arizona governor. EMETIC carried out a series of nighttime cuts of electrical-transmission-tower bolts in the Arizona desert in protest of nuclear-power infrastructure and federal land policy. On May 30, 1989 he, Peg Millett, and Marc Baker were arrested in the desert by some 50 FBI agents in the THERMCON sting operation, in which an FBI undercover agent (Michael Fain, alias Mike Tait) had infiltrated the group. He pleaded guilty to attempting to destroy an electrical transmission line used in interstate commerce. He was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $19,821 in restitution — the longest sentence of the Arizona Five. The Earth First! prosecutions are widely cited as the first U.S. Green Scare case.
The June 21, 1989 Earth First! Journal reported that Mark Davis remained jailed without bond after the late-May arrests. This was pretrial custody, before the later 1991 sentencing and prison term. A possible July 5 hearing was reported for Millett only; the source does not establish an actual release date or a continuous custody period through 1991.
Birth-year source
- Los Angeles Times, September 20, 1991 — identifies Mark Davis as 40 at sentencing, supporting 1951 as his birth year.
Photograph source
The June 21, 1989 Earth First! Journal reported that Mark Davis remained jailed without bond after the late-May arrests. This was pretrial custody, before the later 1991 sentencing and prison term. A possible July 5 hearing was reported for Millett only; the source does not establish an actual release date or a continuous custody period through 1991.
The Fall 1994 directory lists Mark Davis under federal register 23106-008, with correspondence addressed to FPC Boron, Mailbox 064, PO Box 1000, Boron, California. The Fall 1992 directory prints the same individual number and institution. The matching name, number and existing Earth First! imprisonment distinguish this entry from unrelated people named Mark Davis. These are historical correspondence observations, not new custody endpoints.
