Ecoterror suspect goes to West Virginia

An 18-year-old Provo man has been allowed to leave the state until his trial on accusations that he set a fire at Brigham Young University on behalf of an ecoterrorist group.

Harrison David Burrows is now living with his father in West Virginia after the U.S. Attorney's Office decided not to appeal a magistrate's order allowing his release until the Sept. 27 trial, spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said.

Burrows faces a charge of destruction of property by fire for the July 8 blaze at a farm on the school's campus in Provo. Damage was put at about $30,000. He faces five to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Terms of Burrows' release included being under house arrest unless he's at work. He also cannot use a computer, and he must not have any contact with the Animal Liberation Front or any of its members.

Burrows allegedly confessed that he set fire to a considerable amount of cardboard at BYU'S Ellwsorth Farm on July 8, according to an FBI affidavit.

Burrows stated that he and an accomplice set fire to two garden tractors, and both spray-painted pro-ALF graffiti.

The farm houses animals used for feed experiments, and the school said animals there are not harmed.

Burrows also took responsibility for other vandalism at BYU, which included freeing caged rabbits and birds from an on-campus farm. He has not been charged in those incidents.