[3] McGowan was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens, New York City, and graduated from Christ the King Regional High School[4] in Middle Village.

He has worked on many activist issues including military counter-recruitment, demonstrations against the Republican National Convention, the Really Really Free Market,[5] and the support of prisoners such as Jeff Luers[6] and others.

McGowan was a graduate student earning a master's degree in acupuncture, and was an employee of WomensLaw.org, a nonprofit group that helps women in domestic abuse situations navigate the legal system.

[10] On January 20, federal prosecutors, the head of the FBI, and US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales held a press conference announcing a 65-count indictment against 11 individuals relating to 17 different incidents in Oregon, Washington, and California.

In addition to the six arrested on December 7, the Oregon indictment also named Jonathan Paul, Suzanne Savoie, Joseph Dibee, Rebecca Rubin, and Josephine Overaker.

[citation needed] The Christian Science Monitor reports that the "Operation Backfire" indictments have elicited concern, from activists, that authorities have "cracked the super-secrecy of ALF and ELF".

[14] The government disputes these claims: FBI Director Robert Mueller stated the agency takes action "only when volatile talk crosses the line into violence and criminal activity".

However – for reasons never explained to McGowan, his family, supporters, or lawyers[25] – four months later he was transferred to another Communications Management Unit, this time in Terre Haute, Indiana.

[26] Close to a year prior to the latest transfer, in March 2010, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of multiple prisoners, including McGowan and his wife.

[1][35] In 2011, Sam Cullman and Marshall Curry's documentary If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front was released in theaters and on DVD by Oscilloscope Laboratories.